Your brain sees faces in everything—and science just explained why

A University of Surrey study shows that face pareidolia, seeing faces in objects, captures attention more effectively than averted gazes from real faces. Experiments with 54 participants measured attention shifts for both phenomena. Pareidolia draws attention to the overall face-like structure, eliciting a stronger response than averted gazes, which focus on the eye region. These findings may impact advertising, allowing designers to use face-like arrangements in product designs to enhance consumer attention and memorability.