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Anamorphic Reflections in a Christmas Ball

Posted 6 years ago
10 Replies
Posted 6 years ago

The idea of the Chicago bean is wonderful but we have to consider some specifics of a sphere mirror. Only one half of the sphere will reflect the anamorphic image. Either the lower half from an image on the floor below the sphere or the upper half from an image on the ceiling above the sphere.

1.If the anamorphic image is on the floor, the perceived image must be in the lower half of the sphere This could be achieved with a hanging mirror ball. The viewpoint of the observer is at V just above the floor.

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2.The anamorphic is on the ceiling and then we perceive it in the upper half of the sphere This could be done by painting the anamorphic image on a ceiling above the ball The viewpoint of the observer is at V just above the floor but higher than the sphere center..

enter image description here

In the case of the "bean", we have here an upper half of a convex (ball like) mirror and the anamorphic image would need to be on some type of suspended ceiling above the bean mirror surface. Not on the floor.

POSTED BY: Erik Mahieu

Very nice.

My first thought was wall art, then I wondered about how high the art would need to be to see the reflection in the reflecting ball that would need to be attached, so table art it is!

It might be fun to try something with the Chicago Cloud Gate (the bean), but the dimensions: Dimensions 10 m × 13 m × 20 m (33 ft × 42 ft × 66 ft) might not make it very feasible to print out something to place at the base of the end of the sculpture.

POSTED BY: Dorothy Evans

Wow, Dorothy, Chicago Cloud Gate is an interesting idea ! We'd need to know the geometry of the bean, but just imagining a giant cryptic scribble on the ground spelling out letters in its reflection got me really thinking... I wonder how one would approach this. Drone might be useful for both: general capture to represent best in online media and also for proper reflective angle positioning, possibly, if human eye level will not properly capture the sensibly sized letters. A street artist who makes ground drawing illusions could possibly be involved. Note people can go also UNDER cloud gate, which gives fantastic reflection geometry.

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POSTED BY: Vitaliy Kaurov
Posted 6 years ago

Forgot to add the end result!

Forgot to add the end result

POSTED BY: Erik Mahieu
Posted 6 years ago

For those interested, here is a complete notebook to give it a try with your own Xmas wishes! I could not compile so, it is rather slow, be patient...

Attachments:
POSTED BY: Erik Mahieu

@Erik, this is absolutely wonderful holidays idea. I was thinking one can really hide a secret message for loved ones hardly readable on paper but "magically" revealed by a Christmas Ball. What a fun computational project!

POSTED BY: Vitaliy Kaurov
Posted 6 years ago

This is really impressive!

POSTED BY: Kyle Martin
Posted 6 years ago

Great post after Cylinder Mirror?Echer-Style in reverse ?

POSTED BY: Frederick Wu

enter image description here - Congratulations! This post is now a Staff Pick as distinguished by a badge on your profile! Thank you, keep it coming, and consider contributing your work to the The Notebook Archive!

POSTED BY: Moderation Team

Really cool! Thanks for sharing!

POSTED BY: Sander Huisman
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