Gianni A. Sarcone

Considered a leading authority on visual perception by academic institutions, Sarcone was invited to serve as a juror[4] at the Third Annual "Best Illusion of the Year Contest" held in Sarasota, Florida (USA).

[7] Amongst other notable projects, he created and designed an “hypnoptical”[8] visual illusion that was used in the logo and institutional signage of the 2014 Grec Festival of Barcelona,[9] a significant cultural event featuring avant-garde musical, dance, and theater performances.

Since May 16, 2022, in honor of the International Day of Light established by UNESCO, the University of Florence (UniFi) has permanently hosted Sarcone's optical art works in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Sesto Fiorentino.

G. Sarcone has authored and published numerous educational textbooks and illustrated books[18] in English, French and Italian on brain training and the mechanism of vision.

His works were also presented in several national and international television programs, including 'Rai 3' Italy, 'RTL 9 Channel' France, 'TSR 1 Channel' Switzerland, and in the following TV series: G. Sarcone is the author (and co-author) of the following books: Sarcone has practiced and continues to practice various Martial arts and Combat sports, including Yoseikan budō, Kickboxing, Jujutsu), and holds a black belt in Taekwondo.

Here are two relative size illusions described by Italian visual researcher Gianni A. Sarcone in 1997 and 2013. The first relative-size illusion called Sarcone's Crosses contradicts Ebbinghaus illusion (aka Titchener Circles, 1898) and Obonai square illusion (1954). Sarcone's cross illusion consists of a cross (the test shape) surrounded by sets of squares of distinct size (the inducing shapes). As shown in the diagram, the three blue crosses in fig. 1.a, 1.b and 1.c are exactly the same size; the one on the left (fig. 1.a), however, appears larger. The illusion works even when the small squares completely occlude the blue cross (see fig. 1.c). In conclusion, there isn't always correlation between the size of the surrounding shapes and the relative size perception of the test shape. In fig. 2.a and 2.b, by effect of assimilation, the diagonal red line within the large ellipse seems subjectively longer, but in fact the blue line is objectively the longest of both lines. [ 3 ]