研究人员通过实地观察与虚拟现实模拟，解释了发生在澳大利亚艾略特夫人岛（Lady Elliot Island）上著名的“幻影灯塔”视觉错觉 1。研究发现，这种错觉源于大脑在夜间缺乏距离线索时，将光束的运动速度错误地推断为光源位于观察者前方 1。具体而言，大脑预期光束远端移动较慢，从而错误推断光源位于前方地平线 1。
最早关于此现象的报告可追溯至1937年，发生在法国布列塔尼海岸 1。此前关于产生错觉所需距离的认知认为需要1-4公里，而新的研究确认在距离灯塔至少70米处即可产生错觉 1。该研究利用虚拟现实环境成功复现了这一自然现象，验证了大脑作为“预测机器”结合期望与感官证据进行推理的机制，并展示了大脑如何利用先验期望处理模糊视觉信息 1。
New research has provided a scientific explanation for the "phantom lighthouse" illusion, a visual phenomenon observed by visitors on Lady Elliot Island in Australia 1. By combining field observations with virtual reality simulations, researchers demonstrated that the brain misinterprets the speed of light beams when distance cues are absent at night 1. This error leads observers to falsely perceive a light source located ahead of them on the horizon, rather than recognizing the actual beam from a nearby structure 1.
The study identifies the illusion as a product of the brain functioning as a "prediction machine," which merges prior expectations with sensory evidence to resolve ambiguous visual information 1. Specifically, the brain anticipates that the far end of a rotating beam moves slower, prompting it to incorrectly infer that the light originates from a distant point in front of the viewer 1. The findings also correct previous misconceptions about the conditions required for this effect; while early reports suggested the illusion occurred at distances of 1 to 4 kilometers, researchers have now confirmed it can be triggered when standing at least 70 meters away from the lighthouse 1. Although the earliest documented account of this specific optical phenomenon dates back to 1937 on the coast of Brittany, France, the recent work successfully replicated the experience in a controlled virtual environment 1.
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