In 2019 our founder and principal artist, Michael Karlovich, was working on designing a logo for Recursia. He was using principles of visual perception he learned as an undergraduate neuroscience student as well as his post-baccalaureate research to create an illusion that also symbolically captured the root principles of the company. During the creative process, Michael realized he had created a new class of visual illusion which had yet been described in the academic literature. Due to the shimmering rays or beams that appear to emanate from the center of the design like a starburst pattern,  he named the illusion the "Scintillating Starburst".

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The underlying design principles and perceptual effects of the visual illusion were scientifically investigated through a collaboration between Micahel and his scientific mentor, award-winning neuroscience professor, and author, Pascal Wallisch, Ph.D.,  who is the principal investigator of the Fox Lab at New York University's Center for Neural Science. Please click here the free open access to the peer-reviewed article published in the journal i-Perception.  Please click here to browse a large collection of related never-before-seen "Scintillating Starburst" illusions. Click here for a blog post that Michael and Pascal wrote on the illusion. 

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In June 2020 both the name "Recursia" and our logomark involving the Scintillating Starburst were awarded registered trademarks of Recursia®, LLC by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.    

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Click here to purchase products featuring the Recursia Logo.

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Instructions to perceive the illusion: Fixate your gaze on the "R" at the center of the logo. Most observers perceive "shimmering," "scintillating," spoke-like rays radiating from the center of the logo and extends outward to the outer edge of the logo. These "rays" are a visual illusion produced by the brain.