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The great debate: What colour is the shoe?

It's happened again... Only this time it's the colour of a pair of runners that's proving to be divisive!
The great debate: What colour is the shoe?

It’s the shoe that set the Internet alight this week.

Is it pale pink and white, or pale blue and grey?

We all remember the infamous dress a couple of years ago where half the world were convinced it was black and blue while the other half were just as certain it was gold and white.

Well, now it’s footwear being just as divisive.

What colours do YOU see?

Facebook user, Nicole Coulthard, posted a photo of one of the shoes with the caption –

“My friend had just sent me this asking what colour the shoe is, I would say pale pink and white, but she insists its pale blue and grey”.

So why are people seeing different colours?

It all comes down to a principle called ‘colour constancy’.

This is when we are able to look at an object and make a judgement about its colour.

We use contextual clues to work out what the objects true colour is, but in this case, the close up photo of the shoe doesn’t give your brain enough information about the environment to do so.

This means that without realising, your brain is making assumptions about the environment the shoe is photographed in and alters the colour depending on how you perceive it.

Despite the different perceptions, internet sleuths have deciphered that the shoe is actually pink and white.

According to the manufacturer’s website, there are no grey and teal variations of that model on sale.

Either way, it’s always fun to see what your colour your friends and family think the shoe is!

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