# Optical illusion: Albert Einstein becomes Marilyn Monroe

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optical-illusion-albert-einstein-becomes-marilyn-monroe/595016>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 3, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optical-illusion-albert-einstein-becomes-marilyn-monroe/595016 "2011-09-03T01:00:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optical-illusion-albert-einstein-becomes-marilyn-monroe/595016/1 "2011-09-03T01:00:05Z")

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> **[Albert Einstein Marilyn Monroe Illusion - Optical Illusion;](https://www.123opticalillusions.com/pages/albert-einstein-marilyn-monroe.php)**
>
> When you look at this picture close range you see Albert Einstein. Now stand up and take several steps back, roughly 15 feet away, It will become Marilyn Monroe.

Anyone else seen this? Einstein becomes Marilyn as you back away from the screen.

My eyes aren’t the greatest at 15 feet, but it’s still rather amusing.

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**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optical-illusion-albert-einstein-becomes-marilyn-monroe/595016/2 "2011-09-03T01:01:39Z")

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Neat illusion, but the mouth is still messed up at range.

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**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optical-illusion-albert-einstein-becomes-marilyn-monroe/595016/3 "2011-09-03T01:24:33Z")

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I don’t have 15 feet to back up from my monitor 😛

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**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optical-illusion-albert-einstein-becomes-marilyn-monroe/595016/4 "2011-09-03T02:15:45Z")

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[Hybrid images](http://cvcl.mit.edu/hybridimage.htm). You can also squint instead of moving. It works because they combine high spatial frequencies (fine detail) of one image with low SFs (coarse, blurry changes in intensity) of another image.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optical-illusion-albert-einstein-becomes-marilyn-monroe/595016/5 "2011-09-03T03:16:23Z")

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There’s a wall with about eight such images (the one in the OP is one of them – and they all become Albert Einstein) at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, MA

> **[MIT Museum Homepage | MIT Museum](https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/)**
>
> The museum strives to be a place where science, technology, the humanities, and the arts are all used to frame and reframe problems, enabling it to address the compelling questions of our time in new ways.

Here are the images:

[![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/3210/3016603734_8548c1fbbc_z.jpg "hybrid illusion at MIT Museum. up close to naked eye, these all look like...") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/naveen_/3016603734/)

[http://cvcl.mit.edu/hybrid\_gallery/stein\_series.html](http://cvcl.mit.edu/hybrid_gallery/stein_series.html)