Dec 31, 2014 | By Kira

3D printing has gone above and beyond what many of us could ever have imagined, but can it defy the very laws of physics? One man claims to have printed the "impossible triangle," which as the name implies, may not be as straightforward as it seems.

Our brains are hardwired to find logical solutions and to make sense of the things we see—even when there is simply no logic to be found. As children we play with optical illusions that trick our brains into seeing things that aren't there. Is it a duck or a rabbit? An old woman or a beautiful lady? Even as adults, we struggle to come to terms with the fact that things aren't always as they seem. It's not our fault—our brains are made that way.

Some of the most well-known optical illusions traick our brains into seeing two images at once.

Even for experienced mathematicians and psychologists, optical illusions, also known as "impossible objects" are of great interest. Some of the most famous examples are 2D drawings that our brains try to interpret as three-dimensional, even if we know something is not right.

Dutch artist M.C. Escher is known for incorporating these mathematically-intriguing illusions into his artwork, forcing thousands of art students to scratch their heads, cross their eyes, and ultimately look away in exasperation.

Waterfall (M. C. Escher), 1961

The Penrose triangle is a perfect example of an impossible object that pops up in much of Escher's work. Popularized in the 1950s by psychologist Lionel Penrose, the triangle appears to be a solid object made of three straight beams of square cross-section that meet at right angles at the vertices of the triangle they form. But if you look at the image closely, you'll notice that something is wrong. As a 2D object, the triangle is perfectly fine, but because of the intersecting angles, it simply cannot exist in real life. The more you look at it, the more unsettling it may seem—it's not called the "impossible triangle" for nothing.

Image of the classic "Impossible Triangle"; via Wikipedia.

That is, until today. A man posted an image online of what appears to be a 3D printed Penrose triangle along with the headline "I used my 3D printer to violate the laws of physics today." That's a hefty claim considering that the illusion has existed for decades and has never been recreated in real life.

Alas, the story doesn't end there. While the image is very convincing and does appear to be a perfect re-creation of original 2D drawing, the Internet is not a forgiving place. Some commenters were quick to point out that a seam is visible on the bottom corner, indicating that it is not, in fact, a solid contiguous object.

On Reddit, the original user even confessed to his own illusionist behavior by posting an image of the same object from a different angle, proving once again that things are not always what they seem.

Still, based on my own initial reaction, as well as many other comments on the website, the illusion did hold up. Even if images taken from alternate angles disprove the theory, my brain wants to believe that the first one is real. At the end of the day, the point of any optical illusion is not necessarily to defy to the laws of physics, but to challenge our minds to see things differently, and to make us think about the limits of possibility. In that regard, this 3D printed triangle succeeds perfectly.

Other 'real life' versions of the Penrose triangle exist that also depend on your perspective relative to the object itself, such as this sculpture in Perth, Australia. The illusion is only maintained if you're standing in the exact right position, otherwise, the trick is revealed.

Image via Wikipedia

Two versions of the Penrose triangle are available on Makerbot Thingiverse: one by Microsoft Store that looks quite similar to the one photographed above, and another more geographically-interesting version by Thingiverse contributor Chylld.


An alternative 3D printed Penrose triangle. The STL file is available on Thingiverse.

Of course, if the original poster really wants to impress us, why stop at the "impossible triangle"? Many other impossible objects exist, such as the Necker Cube, or the Penrose Stairs, that are just waiting to be 3D printed. They may not be breaking the laws of physics, but they are sure to confuse and confound friends and coworkers, if only for a little while.



Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

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no one wrote at 5/15/2019 2:00:28 AM:

lololololololololololololololololololololololololololo

mr. no wrote at 1/8/2015 8:03:15 PM:

no

Jim wrote at 1/3/2015 6:37:45 PM:

"Geographically interesting"??? Surely you meant "geometrically interesting"?

cogoman wrote at 12/31/2014 5:06:24 PM:

I think a good way to display this would be to have flat board with a hole in it that places the viewer's eye in the correct position to view the impossible triangle, but have it so that you can easily take the board away and replace it. That way the first impression is the impossible vision. This also makes it easy to get back to that wonderous point of view.



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