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Visual effects - Psychedelics

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This article attempts to break down the visual effects contained within the psychedelic experience into simple, easy to understand titles, descriptions and levelling systems. This will be done without depending on metaphors, analogy's or personal trip reports. The article starts off with descriptions of the simpler effects and works its way up towards more complex experiences as it progresses, using image examples wherever possible.

Enhancements

Increased visual acuity

{{#ev:gfycat|https://giant.gfycat.com/IndolentDeliriousGiantschnauzer.webm%7C400x225%7Cright%7CVisual acuity enhancement by StingrayZ - This animation serves as a replication of visual acuity enhancement, which is a common psychedelic effect. It demonstrates the general differences between normal vision and acuity enhancement by shifting between the two states. There is also a subtle amount of visual drifting within this replication.|frame}} Visual acuity enhancement is defined as a heightening of the clearness and clarity of vision. This results in the visual details of the external environment becoming sharpened to the point where the edges of objects become perceived as extremely focused, clear, and defined. The experience of this acuity enhancement can be likened to bringing a camera or projector lens that was slightly blurry into focus. At its highest level, a person may experience the ability to observe and comprehend their entire visual field simultaneously, including their peripheral vision. This is in contrast to the default sober state where a person is only able to perceive the small area of central vision in detail.[1]

While under the influence of this effect, it is common for people to suddenly notice patterns and details in the environment they may have never previously noticed or appreciated. For example, the complexity and perceived beauty of the visual input often become apparent when looking at sceneries, nature, and everyday textures.

Visual acuity enhancement is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as color enhancement and pattern recognition enhancement.[2][3] It is most commonly induced under the influence of mild dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline. However, it can also occur to a lesser extent under the influence of certain stimulants and dissociatives such as MDMA or 3-MeO-PCP.

Image examples


Enhancement of colour

Color enhancement is defined as an intensification of the brightness and vividness of colors in the external environment. During this experience, reds may seem “redder”, greens may seem “greener", and all colors will likely appear much more distinct, complex, and visually intense than they comparatively would be during everyday sober living.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] At higher levels, this effect can sometimes result in seeing colors which are perceived as surreal or seemingly impossible.[4][5]

Color enhancement is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as visual acuity enhancement and pattern recognition enhancement.[2][3] It is most commonly induced under the influence of mild dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline. However, it can also occur to a lesser extent under the influence of certain stimulants and dissociatives such as MDMA, ketamine[9], or 3-MeO-PCP.

Image examples


Enhanced pattern recognition

Face in a cloud by Neil Usher - This image serves as an example of pattern recognition enhancement.

Pattern recognition enhancement is defined as an increase in a person's ability and tendency to recognize patterns within vague stimuli.

Seeing patterns resemble human faces is an innate ability which humans possess in everyday life and is well documented in scientific literature under the term pareidolia.[10][11] Common examples of this include spotting faces in the front of a car, or seeing different objects in clouds.[7]

During this effect, patterns can be significantly more pronounced than it would usually be during a sober state.[12][13] For example, remarkably detailed images may appear embedded in scenery, everyday objects may look like faces, and clouds may appear as fantastical objects all without any visual alterations taking place. Once an image has been perceived within an object or landscape, the mind may further exaggerate this recognition through the hallucinatory effect known as transformations, which goes beyond pareidolia and becomes a standard visual hallucination.

Pattern recognition enhancement is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as visual acuity enhancement and colour enhancement.[2][3] It is most commonly induced under the influence of mild dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline.

Image examples


Magnification

{{#ev:gfycat|https://gfycat.com/DisloyalShockedJunebug%7C400x230%7Cright%7CMagnification by StingrayZ - This is an animated example of the common psychedelic visual effect known as magnification. There is also a significant amount of visual drifting present within the animation.|frame}} Magnification (also known as macropsia or megalopsia[14]) is defined as the experience of distant details within one's visual field appearing closer and more "zoomed in" than they actually are due to both visual enhancements and hallucinatory effects.[15] This can give the perception that one is seeing objects from greater distances than is usually possible within everyday life.

At its lower levels, this can allow people to see nearby objects (such as within reaching distance) as much closer than they really are, resulting in the perception that their visual capabilities have been enhanced.[15] At its higher levels, this can induce the perception of seeing distant objects as if they were right in front of the user despite their distance. These distances can range from several feet to hundreds of meters. Since this is most likely a physiological impossibility, it suggests that higher level magnification may actually be a seamless hallucinatory state in which the details of distant visual input are predictively simulated in a realistic and convincing manner.

It's worth noting that this effect is considerably more likely to occur if a person spends extended periods of time staring at an object or scene within the distance.

Magnification is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as visual acuity enhancement and pattern recognition enhancement. It is a rare effect that is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline.

Distortions

Colour shifting

{{#ev:gfycat|https://giant.gfycat.com/BelovedLittleIndianskimmer.webm%7C400x267%7Cright%7CUV Mandala by StingrayZ - This image serves as an accurate portrayal of the commonly experienced psychedelic effect known as color shifting as seen within a mandala tapestry. There is also a significant amount of visual drifting.|frame}} Color shifting is defined as the experience of various objects within the external environment shift and change their color through a continuously repeating cycle that occurs in a fluid motion across the surface of the object.[5] For example, moss on a rock could visibly shift from green to red to blue to any other color and then back to green again in the style of a smooth and seamless animated loop. This effect is particularly strong and likely to occur if the objects original color was bright or out of place.

Color shifting is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as color enhancement and color replacement. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline. However, it can also occur to a lesser extent under the influence of certain entactogens such as MDMA, MDA, and 6-APB.

Image examples


Visual drifting

White Wolf Drinking Water by Anonymous - This animated .gif serves as an image example for a very common manifestation of psychedelic visual drifting which is specifically in the form of flowing

Drifting is defined as the experience of the texture, shape, and general structure of objects and scenery appearing progressively warped, melted, and morphed across themselves.[3][5][16] These alterations gradually increase in intensity as a person stares, but are temporary and will reset to their normal appearance the moment a person double takes.

This effect is capable of manifesting itself across the 4 different levels of intensity described below:

  1. Peripheral - At the lowest level, visual drifting can be described as a wiggling of straight lines within the external environment. This occurs exclusively within a person's peripheral vision and cannot be directly looked at.
  2. Direct - At this level, visual drifting does not necessarily increase in intensity, but can now be directly looked at within a person's central line of sight. This partially alters the appearance and form of shapes, objects, and sceneries within the external environment, causing them to subtly drift, bend, and morph.
  3. Distinct - At this level, visual drifting becomes powerful enough to drastically alter and transform the shape of specific objects within a person's external environment. If one stares at a fixed point and keeps their eyes relatively motionless, the effect can be powerful enough to render objects progressively unrecognizable from their original form.
  4. All-encompassing - At the highest level of visual drifting, the intensity becomes powerful enough to distort not just specific objects, but every single point of a person's vision and the entirety of the external environment. This creates the appearance of an extremely smudged, warped, and blended mass of unrecognisable visual data.

Drifting is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as symmetrical texture repetition and tracers.[3][2] It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline. However, it can also occur to a lesser extent under the influence of certain stimulants and dissociatives such as MDMA or 3-MeO-PCP.

The particular style of this visual effect depends on the specific continuously changing direction, speed, and rhythm of the distortion. This results in a small variety of different manifestations which are defined and listed below:

Morphing

Morphing can be described as a style of visual drifting which is completely disorganised and spontaneous in both its rhythm and direction. It results in objects and scenery appearing to change gradually, morph, and warp in their size, shape, and configuration.

Breathing

Breathing can be described as a style of visual drifting which results in objects and scenery appearing to steadily contract inwards and expand outwards in a consistent rhythm, similar to the lungs of a living organism.

Melting

Melting can be described as a style of visual drifting which results in the texture of objects and scenery appearing to completely or partially melt. It begins at lower intensities as a gradual distortion of an object's texture which causes them to subtly droop, wobble, and lose their structural integrity. This gradually increases until it becomes impossible to ignore as the lines, textures, and colour between solid objects melt into one another in an extremely fluid style.

Flowing

Flowing can be described as a style of visual drifting which seems to occur almost exclusively on textures (particularly if they are highly detailed, complex, or rough in appearance). It results in the textures appearing to flow like a river in a seamless, looped animation. It is particularly common on wood grain or the fur of animals.

Image examples


Variations

The specific differences between each potential style of drifting can be broken down into the following variations and may occur independent of effect intensity:

  • Intricate vs. Simplistic – Drifting can alter the external environment in a way that spreads out in many different complex directions and results in the original piece of sensory input becoming completely unrecognisable in appearance. Alternately, it can be simplistic in nature consisting of simple warping, wiggling and bending even at high dosages of psychoactive substances.
  • Slow vs. Fast – Drifting can manifest as alterations that progress at a sudden rate and produce fast movement in the visual field or it can manifest gradually and move slowly as a person stares into it.
  • Smooth vs. Jittery – Drifting can manifest as a smooth, fluid, and seamless movement or it can manifest as jittery with an extremely slow frame rate that moves in sudden and partial transitions.
  • Static vs. Fleeting – Drifting can either freeze in its distorted position until one performs a double take or can be extremely fleeting in nature, resetting almost as soon as a person tries to look directly at it.
  • Realistic vs. Unrealistic – Drifting can either look convincingly natural and life-like in its appearance and motion or can look extremely cartoon-like, exaggerated and unrealistic. </onlyinclude>

Psychoactive substances

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

... further results

Experience reports

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

... further results

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sardegna, J., Shelly, S. (2002). The Encyclopedia of Blindness and Vision Impairment. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9780816066230. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Papoutsis, Ioannis; Nikolaou, Panagiota; Stefanidou, Maria; Spiliopoulou, Chara; Athanaselis, Sotiris (2014). "25B-NBOMe and its precursor 2C-B: modern trends and hidden dangers". Forensic Toxicology. 33 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1007/s11419-014-0242-9. ISSN 1860-8965. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Bersani, Francesco Saverio; Corazza, Ornella; Albano, Gabriella; Valeriani, Giuseppe; Santacroce, Rita; Bolzan Mariotti Posocco, Flaminia; Cinosi, Eduardo; Simonato, Pierluigi; Martinotti, Giovanni; Bersani, Giuseppe; Schifano, Fabrizio (2014). "25C-NBOMe: Preliminary Data on Pharmacology, Psychoactive Effects, and Toxicity of a New Potent and Dangerous Hallucinogenic Drug". BioMed Research International. 2014: 1–6. doi:10.1155/2014/734749. ISSN 2314-6133. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hartman, Alan M.; Hollister, Leo E. (1963). "Effect of mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin on color perception". Psychopharmacologia. 4 (6): 441–451. doi:10.1007/BF00403349. ISSN 0033-3158. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Kleinman, J. E.; Gillin, J. C.; Wyatt, R. J. (1977). "A Comparison of the Phenomenology of Hallucinogens and Schizophrenia From Some Autobiographical Accounts*". Schizophrenia Bulletin. 3 (4): 560–586. doi:10.1093/schbul/3.4.560. ISSN 0586-7614. 
  6. ↑ Obreshkova, D., Kandilarov, I., Angelova, V. T., Iliev, Y., Atanasov, P., & Fotev, P. S. (2017). PHARMACO-TOXICOLOGICAL ASPECTS AND ANALYSIS OF PHENYLALKYLAMINE AND INDOLYLALKYLAMINE HALLUCINOGENS (REVIEW). PHARMACIA, 64(1), 41-42. http://bsphs.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Angelova.pdf
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Abraham, Henry David (1983). "Visual Phenomenology of the LSD Flashback". Archives of General Psychiatry. 40 (8): 884. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1983.01790070074009. ISSN 0003-990X. 
  8. ↑ Baggott, M.J.; Coyle, J.R.; Erowid, E.; Erowid, F.; Robertson, L.C. (2011). "Abnormal visual experiences in individuals with histories of hallucinogen use: A web-based questionnaire". Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 114 (1): 61–67. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2010.09.006. ISSN 0376-8716. 
  9. ↑ Dillon, P (2003). "Patterns of use and harms associated with non-medical ketamine use". Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 69 (1): 23–28. doi:10.1016/S0376-8716(02)00243-0. ISSN 0376-8716. 
  10. ↑ Liu, Jiangang; Li, Jun; Feng, Lu; Li, Ling; Tian, Jie; Lee, Kang (2014). "Seeing Jesus in toast: Neural and behavioral correlates of face pareidolia". Cortex. 53: 60–77. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2014.01.013. ISSN 0010-9452. 
  11. ↑ Hadjikhani, Nouchine; Kato, Masaharu; Mugitani, Ryoko (2015). "Pareidolia in Infants". PLOS ONE. 10 (2): e0118539. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118539. ISSN 1932-6203. 
  12. ↑ Belser, Alexander B.; Agin-Liebes, Gabrielle; Swift, T. Cody; Terrana, Sara; Devenot, Neşe; Friedman, Harris L.; Guss, Jeffrey; Bossis, Anthony; Ross, Stephen (2017). "Patient Experiences of Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis". Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 57 (4): 354–388. doi:10.1177/0022167817706884. ISSN 0022-1678. 
  13. ↑ Halberstadt, Adam L. (2015). "Recent advances in the neuropsychopharmacology of serotonergic hallucinogens". Behavioural Brain Research. 277: 99–120. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2014.07.016. ISSN 0166-4328. 
  14. ↑ "macropsia". APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved 20 May 2022. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Fischer, Roland; Hill, Richard; Thatcher, Karen; Scheib, James (1970). "Psilocybin-induced contraction of nearby visual space". Agents and Actions. 1 (4): 190–197. doi:10.1007/BF01965761. ISSN 0065-4299. 
  16. ↑ Muthukumaraswamy, S. D.; Carhart-Harris, R. L.; Moran, R. J.; Brookes, M. J.; Williams, T. M.; Errtizoe, D.; Sessa, B.; Papadopoulos, A.; Bolstridge, M.; Singh, K. D.; Feilding, A.; Friston, K. J.; Nutt, D. J. (2013). "Broadband Cortical Desynchronization Underlies the Human Psychedelic State". Journal of Neuroscience. 33 (38): 15171–15183. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2063-13.2013. ISSN 0270-6474. 

Depth Perception Distortions

Template:Visual effects: Depth Perception Distortions

Tracers

Template:Visual effects: Tracers

Symmetrical texture repetition

Template:Visual effects: Symmetrical texture repetition

Scenery Slicing

Template:Visual effects: Scenery Slicing

Geometry

Template:Visual effects: Geometry

Hallucinatory states

Transformations

Template:Visual effects: Transformations

Internal hallucinations

Template:Visual effects: Internal hallucinations

See also

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