Rubin's Vase

Figure-Ground Organization: Rubin's Vase demonstrates how the visual cortex assigns edges to shape structures. The brain organizes visual space into a foreground object ("figure") and a background ("ground"). Because the contours in this illustration are shared, your cognitive processes assign border ownership to either the central white region (creating the vase) or the outer black regions (creating the face profiles).

Your visual cortex cannot process both interpretations as active figures at the exact same moment. As a result, your awareness toggles between the two shapes, showcasing how perception is an active, top-down cognitive hypothesis.