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Tracers

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Tracers by Chelsea Morgan - This image serves as an accurate portrayal of the commonly experienced psychedelic effect known as tracers.

Tracers can be described as the experience of trails being left behind moving objects such as people, birds or cars in a manner that is similar to those found in long exposure photographs. They can manifest as exactly the same colour of the moving object which is producing it or can sometimes be a seemingly randomly selected colour of their own.

A near consistent way to reproduce this visual effect is to move one's hand in front of their face or throw an object under the influence of a moderate dose of psychedelics.

Tracers can be broken down into 4 basic levels of visual intensity. These are defined below as:

  1. Transparent - The most basic form of tracer can be described as an almost completely transparent after image which disappears quickly and drags shortly behind moving objects.
  2. Translucent - At this level, tracers increase in their length to become at least roughly half as long as the distance across the visual field which the object it is following has moved. In terms of clarity, the tracers shift from barely visible to distinct and partially transparent in colour.
  3. Opaque - At this level, tracers become completely solid in appearance and opaque in their colour with distinct and sharp edges to their shape which draw a clear contrast between the tracer itself and the background behind it. They become equal in length to the distance across the visual field which the object it is following has moved in and can remain in the air for up to several seconds.
  4. All-encompassing - The highest level occurs at the point when a person’s visual field has become so sensitive to the creation of tracers that the entirety of it smudges and blurs into an all-encompassing tracer at the slightest movement of the eye. This can make it extremely difficult to see unless the eyes are kept still and the tracer remains in the air almost indefinitely or until one looks elsewhere within their visual field.

Image examples



Psychoactive substances

Compounds within our psychoactive substance index which may cause this effect include:

Experience reports

Anecdotal reports which describe this effect within our experience index include:

See also

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