Is the invisible box challenge the new internet sensation?

Cheerleader Ariel demonstrates the invisible box challenge. Photo / Twitter

First it was planking. Then came the Ice Bucket Challenge. Now a new – and bizarre – viral phenomenon is sweeping the internet.

People around the world are attempting to step on an "invisible box" for an online optical illusion.

The trick involves participants pretending to lay a box on the floor in front of them, and patting the imaginary "top" to help create the illusion of a solid object.

They then raise a foot in mid-air, pretending to step on the box before "hopping" their other leg over to land on the other side while keeping the original foot suspended.

The trick might sound simple, but this notion is disproved by the number of people filmed falling on the floor.

In recent weeks it has picked up momentum thanks to footage of successful attempts by US football player Dontez Hines and Texan cheerleader Ariel Olivar.

Miss Olivar told the Houston Chronicle: "The video was my third time trying it. I just keep the leg in the same exact spot. It is actually kind of challenging keeping it there. The technique is to bring the other leg higher than the other as if you are actually stepping over a box."

Mr Hines told Men's Health: "I still cannot believe how much attention it has got. It is really nothing special. I just imagined that there was a box and stepped on it."

Unlike other social media trends of recent years, the "invisible box challenge" has not yet been linked to charity fundraising or raising awareness of a cause.

The trick is not merely a recent phenomenon though: a video from 2014, showing Mexican dancer Marcos Grados perform the move during a show, has been viewed almost 889,000 times.

Fitness experts have attempted to explain the viral phenomenon, with instructions on how to complete it successfully.

Ebenezer Samuel, Men's Health fitness editor said: "All hip stabilisers on the right side are firing on overtime to hold that hip in position.

"You'll notice [the] body rotates toward the leg on the step as well; there's a ton of oblique and ab stability maintaining that position.

"Very explosive hip flexor, abdominal and glute strength is what is driving the leg up and over the box."

Other viral videos of recent years include the ice bucket challenge, which reportedly raised more than $13m for the Motor Neurone Disease Association in the UK and $167m for the ALS Association in America.

The planking challenge required participants to lie face down in the most obscure locations they could muster, while the mannequin challenge asked people to freeze like a statue while out in public.

Other viral videos have been less wholesome. The "Kylie Jenner Challenge" saw fans attempt to make their lips swell up to match the reality television star by using a shot glass, while the cinnamon challenge tasked people with eating a spoonful of the ground spice without the help of water in under a minute.