‘Confused’: Aussies stumped by ‘infuriating’ optical illusion

A man has stumped thousands after sharing a seemingly innocent photo. So, can you spot the hidden tech item?

A man has baffled thousands with an image containing an extremely well-camouflaged item, in a photo that has since been dubbed the ultimate “Where’s Wally” for adults.

The unnamed user posted the “optical illusion” to the Mildly Infuriating Reddit forum, revealing that his wife had lost her Apple Pencil, stating it was hidden somewhere in the snap.

The head-scratching image quickly confused the masses, earning over 100,000 likes and more than 3000 comments from people who struggled to find the object.

“My wife lost her Apple Pencil four months ago. After replacing it, we just found the original,” he wrote alongside the photo of a white rolling storage trolley in what appears to be a study.

Somewhere on the cart was an Apple Pencil, thin and blending perfectly with the off-white storage unit.

A man has shared a photo of a white storage cart contained an Apple Pencil. Can you spot it? Picture: Reddit

After sharing a good laugh with his wife about the situation, he decided to test the internet’s skills.

As expected, many users also had trouble locating the hi-tech product.

“I’ve spent so long looking for it, and I still can’t see it,” one person admitted. “Over 10 minutes.”

“I can’t find it, even after zooming in everywhere,” another revealed.

“This has left me questioning whether I even knew what they look like,” a third person echoed.

“This is messing with me,” commented another person.

Eventually, a few eagle-eyed viewers managed to spot it and proudly shared their findings.

“For those wondering where …” someone replied, attaching the photo again but this time with a red circle highlighting the hidden spot.

The Apple Pencil was magnetically stuck to the side of the trolley. Picture: Reddit

The Apple Pencil was sitting vertically, magnetically attached to the bar between the bottom and middle baskets on the right hand side.

“For once, the red circle is needed,” someone noted.

“Holy lifesaver, thanks!” another responded.

When asked about how the Apple Pencil ended up there, the original poster explained: “I think it was attached to the side on purpose because we use this as a nightstand. But at some point, it slid down and possibly spun around to the other side, likely due to my gigantic dog rubbing against it.

“That’s my theory, anyway. Or maybe it was ghosts.”

This led to discussions about the frustrating phenomenon of replacing an item only to find the original after you bought the replacement.

“The laws of nature are true: what is lost always comes back when you end up replacing it,” one person mused.

“That’s why you always say you’re replacing the lost item out loud. This way, the lost item becomes troubled and insecure and reveals itself again,” another joked.

How optical illusions work

Optical illusions featuring hidden objects work by leveraging the way our brains process visual information.

These illusions exploit the interplay of contrast, patterns, shapes, and colours to hide certain objects in plain sight.

In this photo, the hidden object mimics its surrounding environment in colour, texture, and shape, tricking the brain into perceiving the scene as a cohesive whole rather than separating the object from its background.

Our brains are trained to prioritise familiar patterns, focus on contrasts, and group elements together.

Hidden object illusions disrupt these shortcuts, making objects seem invisible.

Once you identify the hidden object, your brain “reconfigures,” allowing the object to become easier to see again.