green and a brown winter hat
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
December 19, 2023 ·  3 min read

Can You Tell If This Hat Is Green Or Brown?

Optical illusions really do have a way of making us question our eyes. This time around on the internet, we have a hat that is sending us into a tizzy. Somewhat like the famous blue dress illusion, where it appeared to be white and gold to many that saw it (yes, it was actually blue).

Otelia Carmen, a TikTok user, and an environment designer is the origin of the recent hat image. When she posted the video of her headdress, she had little idea that it would catch the attention of the internet to such an extent.

The Chameleon Hat

If you look at the video, it would be easy to see how similar it is to a chameleon. It is interesting to see that, at first, it appears to be green in color. But later on, when Otelia wears the hat at home, it seems to have changed color to brown! We can’t blame you if you are left puzzled by the sudden change, we were too.

Here is how Otelia described the incident:

So, I bought this green hat at the store today and I brought it home and when I took it out, I was like: Why is this brown?

But Otelia, given her profession, knew all about what was going on. She explained: “The realized: metamerism.”

@oteliacarmen

Why lighting should be just as important as color/material selections!! #interiordesign #learnontiktok #designertips #colortheory #shopwithme

♬ Do It To It – ACRAZE


What is this ‘metamerism’?

Metamerism is a term in physics that defines the change in the color that you see that takes place due to the manner in which the light falls on them. The best example of this is when you use different sources of light. Each source of light has a different color associated with them. Once such a source hits a colored surface, that surface’s color changes.

The concept may seem a bit complex, but here is a picture example that demonstrates it:

The phenomenon of Metamerism 
metamerism. Image via Researchgate.net

Read: People Can’t Quite Figure Out How Many Girls Are In This Optical Illusion

The Same Is Happening In Otelia’s Case

Now that we’ve very briefly covered metamerism, let’s discuss the hat. In Otelia’s video, the light source at the shop made the color of the hat seem like it is green. However, when she looked at it again under the light of her room, it turned brown.

Otelia explains that metamerism is one of the reasons interior design gives so much importance to lighting. In shops, where there is not enough lighting or the hue is different than the usual white lighting, the color of clothes can often look different.

So much so, that the hat keeps changing color in each room in Otelia’s house. It is a phenomenon that happens all the time but is barely noticeable. So, credits to Otelia for pointing it out particularly.

As for the real color of the hat, Otelia wore it outside in natural daylight. Lo and behold, it was just brown. No other surprises or optical illusions were left in store.

While the science behind this isn’t exactly like the blue dress, the end result is similar. Carmen actually has a lot of more informative clips on how metamerism works. Check out her profile to know more about the curious phenomenon.   

@oteliacarmen

Reply to @ghostgirl093 Answring some more questions about the color changing hat ##colortheory ##metamerism ##stemtok ##shopwithme

♬ original sound – Art + Design

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Source:

  1. Tiktok