Optical Illusion in Women's Public Toilet Freaks People Out: 'Eyeballs'

A terrifying optical illusion in a public toilet has left TikTok users cry-laughing.

In a video posted on January 6, user @prettypre0 can be heard freaking out over someone "watching her" in the bathroom—only to realize it's a toilet roll holder.

Due to the placement of the screws, it appears as though two eyes are staring out from the dispenser, with the optical illusion disturbing TikTok users as much as prettypre0.

Captioned: "Just halfway scared me to death," the hilarious clip has so far received over 9.4 million views and 1.5 million likes in just three days.

Optical Illusions Explained

According to the Queensland Brain Institute, optical illusions occur when our "brain is confused by what your eyes tell it."

To make sense of the world around us, our eyes send messages to our brains, but it's not a perfect system. Optical illusions take place when our brain misinterprets these messages and tries to fill in the gaps.

There are several types of optical illusion. Literal illusions are almost like brainteasers for the eye. A well-known example is the 'L'egs-istential Quandary,' created by scientist Roger Newland Shepard. Designed to muddle the brain, it's impossible to tell if the elephant in the drawing has four legs or five.

A cognitive illusion is an image that can be viewed in multiple ways depending on individual perception, such as the famous 'My Wife and My Mother-in-Law' illusion, created by cartoonist William Ely Hill in 1915.

Depending on your past experiences and internal biases, some people spot the younger woman or "wife" first, while others see the older woman or "mother-in-law." These influences are also why some people might spot a dog in this image instead of two cats, or pick up on this "X-rated" optical illusion, while others don't.

There are also physical illusions, such as the "moon illusion," when the moon looks larger depending on its placement in the sky, and physiological illusions, when the brain is overstimulated, making a two-dimensional image seem three dimensional.

'I Legit Jumped'

In the video, prettypre0 introduces fellow TikTok users to the "eyeball" spying on her in a public bathroom.

"Yo, I just freaked the f*** out," said prettypre0. "I thought somebody was watching me."

Breathing heavily, prettypre0 then zooms in on the eyes—actually screws—which seem to be eerily peering out from the toilet roll dispenser.

"It scared me," she said. "They gotta change that."

TikTok users were as creeped out as the poster, with the video receiving almost 19,000 comments.

"My heart dropped when I saw it," said CreativeSpot.

"You need financial compensation for that," joked Steph M.

"U told me it wasn't real but i still got scared," wrote mel.

"I'm still not convinced they're not eyes," commented Mira.

While Jen_Dup_03 said: "I legit jumped."

Newsweek has reached out to @prettypre0 for comment.

Do you have funny videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@newsweek.com and they could appear on our site.