Viral Optical Illusion Has People Seeing Different Numbers—And It Could Hint At Your Eye Health

A simple optical illusion is all it takes to send the internet into a frenzy. Just ask the dress: a photo of a dress that was posted to Tumblr in 2015 that had users getting into fights about whether the dress was blue and black or white and gold.

But this new optical illusion could have a bit higher stakes than the dress: the numbers that you can see could actually indicate the state of your eyes.

The illusion in question is testing for different levels of "contrast sensitivity" in human vision. Contrast sensitivity is "your ability to distinguish between finer and finer increments of light versus dark," according to All About Vision.

The zig-zag pattern of the illusion is meant to cause the eyes to mix up which color it is viewing and which contrast to be sensitive to, so those with lower levels of contrast sensitivity may especially have difficulty viewing the numbers on the edges.

Low contrast sensitivity can be a symptom of several more serious eye conditions, including glaucoma, cataracts, or macular degeneration.

The highest reported result appears to have been 45283, as those numbers are the most visible, with a second mean appearing on 528. The full number is 3452839.

Contrast sensitivity comes into play when night driving, using basic depth perception, and a few other areas of life that make it absolutely essential.

Is it time to schedule your next eye doctor appointment? Or did you get every number?