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<p class=MsoPlainText>****CALL FOR ILLUSION SUBMISSIONS: THE FIFTH ANNUAL BEST
VISUAL ILLUSION OF THE YEAR CONTEST****<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><a href="http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com">http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>*** We are happy to announce the world's 5th annual Best
Visual Illusion of the Year Contest!!*** The deadline for illusion submissions
is February 16th, 2009!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>The 2009 contest will be held in Naples, Florida (Naples
Philharmonic Center for the Arts, <a href="http://www.thephil.org/">http://www.thephil.org/</a>)
on Sunday, May 10th, 2009, during the week of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS)
conference. The Naples Philharmonic Center is an 8-minute walk from the main
VSS headquarters hotel in Naples, and is thus central to the VSS conference.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>********************************************************************************************************<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>We are happy to announce that the 2009
Master-of-Ceremonies will be none other than the infamous Peter Thompson of The
University of York, UK. Dr. Thompson is the creator of the famed Margaret
Thatcher illusion, one of the most celebrated illusions of the 20<sup>th</sup>
century. His skills as an MC are legendary… none of this year’s contest’s
attendees will leave unchanged or unscathed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>********************************************************************************************************<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Past contests have been highly successful in drawing
public attention to vision research, with over ***TWO MILLION*** website hits
from viewers all over the world, as well as hundreds of international media
stories. The First, Second and Third Prize winners at the 2008 contest were Rob
van Lier & Mark Vergeer (Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Rob
Jenkins (University of Glasgow, UK), and Thomas Papathoms (Rutgers University,
USA). To see the illusions, photo galleries and other highlights from the 2008
and previous contests, go to <a
href="http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com">http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Illusion submissions can be novel visual, cognitive, or
multimodal illusions (unpublished, or published no earlier than 2008) in
standard image, movie or html formats. Exciting new variants of classic or
known illusions are also admissible. An international panel of impartial judges
will rate the submissions and narrow them to the TOP TEN. Then, at the Contest
Gala in Naples, the TOP TEN illusionists will present their contributions and
the attendees of the event (that means you!) will vote to pick the TOP THREE
WINNERS!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Illusions submitted to previous editions of the contest
can be re-submitted to the 2009 contest, so long as they meet the above
requirements and were not among the TOP THREE winners in previous years.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Submissions will be held in strict confidence by the
panel of judges and the authors/creators will retain full copyright. No
illusions will be posted on the illusion contest's website without the
creators' explicit permission. As with submitting your work to any scientific
conference, participating in to the Best Illusion of the Year Contest does not
preclude you from also submitting your work for publication elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Submissions can be made to Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde
(Illusion Contest Coordinator, Neural Correlate Society) via email (<a
href="mailto:smart@neuralcorrelate.com">smart@neuralcorrelate.com</a>) until
February 16, 2009. Illusion submissions should come with a (no more than)
one-page description of the illusion and its theoretical underpinnings (if
known). Illusions will be rated according to: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>. Significance to our understanding of the visual system <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>. Simplicity of the description <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>. Sheer beauty <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>. Counterintuitive quality <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>. Spectacularity <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Visit the illusion contest website for further
information and to see last year's illusions: <a
href="http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com">http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Submit your ideas now and take home this prestigious
award!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>On behalf of the Neural Correlate Society: Susana
Martinez-Conde (Illusion Contest Coordinator)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoPlainText>Neural Correlate Society Executive Committee: Jose-Manuel
Alonso, Stephen Macknik, Luis Martinez, Xoana Troncoso, Peter Tse<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>---------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Director, Laboratory of Visual
Neuroscience<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Barrow Neurological Institute<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>350 W. Thomas Rd.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Phoenix AZ 85013<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>USA<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Phone: +1 602 406-3484<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Fax: +1 602 406-4192<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Email: smart@neuralcorrelate.com<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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