Optical illusion: Only those with sharp vision can spot the odd “280” hidden among a sea of identical “208s” – The Times of India

Are you ready for a fun, challenging test of your observational skills? Well, today’s optical illusion presents an exciting puzzle that will put your focus and attention to detail to the ultimate test. While some are tests of playing tricks with our vision, others are tests of our attention ability. There has been a new optical illusion that has recently become popular—identifying missing or misplaced numbers within a huge matrix of identical numbers.
A second category of illusion working its way into circulation has the viewer trying to find the lost single occurrence of the number “280” amidst a vast majority of similarly-appearing “208s.” At first glance, the eye’s impression is one of the whole picture filled with figure 208 to such an extent that it becomes self-evidently even in appearance. The task rather is to sit down and deliberately try to find the sole occurrence of 280.
This is a tricky illusion since the digits 0 and 8 resemble each other, and the eye can ignore slight differences. The mind will tend to clump similar-appearing things together, and so it requires keen concentration and perseverance to pick out the single number that differs. This is a challenge many try to ascertain whether they can improve their observation and how fast they can spot the odd one out.
If you haven’t yet managed to find the 280, don’t worry—it’s tricky! You need to study every row and column carefully, paying close attention for the minute differences between figures. The key is to pay attention to every number individually rather than examining the pattern as a fuzzy whole.
For those who are still having trouble, here’s a clue: glance at the fourth number in a specific row from right to left. That’s where the secret 280 hides! This is the sole place where the number is not like the adjacent 208s.
So, how rapidly were you able to identify the odd number? If you succeeded in doing it in seconds, congratulations! You have good vision and better attentiveness. But if not, don’t panic—these vision illusions are specifically meant to be challenging and amusing. The greater the practice you put in, the more capable you will get at identifying little differences between akin patterns.
Go ahead and challenge your friends with this puzzle and see who can spot the hidden 280 first!