Final answer:
Anthony is experiencing barrel distortion, where lines in an image appear curved due to the bending of the light path. This effect can occur through lenses like wide-angle lenses or mediums like water, and is related to, but distinct from, the kind of distortion caused by diverging lenses.
Step-by-step explanation:
Anthony is experiencing a type of distortion known as barrel distortion. This phenomenon occurs when the light path is bent in such a way that lines in an image appear inwardly curved towards the center and outwardly flared near the corners, creating a bulging out effect that resembles the shape of a barrel. This distortion can typically be observed through optical systems with particular lens shapes, such as wide-angle lenses or through a medium like a glass of water that refracts light differently than air. Often, this effect can also be associated with the type of illusion created using patterns and parallel colored lines that can give a curvature effect to surfaces.
When considering lenses, a similar but distinct effect can occur with diverging lenses or concave lenses, which can also cause distortion. These lenses create upright but smaller images than the object, indicating a positive magnification that is less than 1. These images are virtual, meaning that they cannot be projected and appear on the same side of the lens as the object. While the effect is different, the underlying cause is related to the way light is bent by the lens.