Shapiro completed his undergraduate work in mathematics and psychology at University College San Diego. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in psychology from Columbia University and completed post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago, working with Joel Pokorny and Vivianne C. Smith in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.
He is currently a professor of psychology with the American University in Washington, District of Columbia and Director of the Collaborative for Applied Perceptual Research and Innovation (CAPRI). His research focuses on color, motion, vision in low-light environments, and visual phenomena. Shapiro"s work on motion perception has been featured in news articles, television programming, and viral videos.
The New York Times and National Public Radio have each written pieces examining Shapiro"s contributions to vision science and motion illusions (eg an analysis of the curve ball illusion).
The National Geographic program Brain Games utilized Shapiro as a "Motion Expert" to explore human vision and the neuroscience behind several popular motion illusions. Similarly, both United States of America Today and National Broadcasting Company Washington have featured Shapiro"s scientific analysis of #thedress.
Shapiro has also been featured on the YouTube channel "Illusions and Science", exhibiting his "Tusi or Not Tusi" motion illusion
Shapiro was selected as a top-ten finalist to the Best Illusion of the Year Contest twelve times. Each of the selected entries are listed and referenced below.
In 2014, Shapiro was selected to be a member of "The Nifty Fifty", a group of international professionals organized by the United States of America Science and Engineering Festival to promote the Science Technology Engineering And Mathematics fields to secondary school students across the United States. Other members of the "Nifty Fifty" include Elon Musk (of Tesla Motors and SpaceX), Michael Shermer (of Skeptic), and Sylvester James Gates.
