It feels like the motion picture people have always known this effect. See this video for instance - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNF9QNEQLA" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNF9QNEQLA</a>
Does it matter that the objects don't change right in front of your eyes? In the silencing videos, if you look at the objects instead of at the white dot, you <i>do</i> see them moving <i>and</i> changing.