Fiber Optics Prototype

Pixelated

I named my fiber optics exhibit Pixelated because as an image is projected through the grid of rods, it is broken up into what I thought looked like pixels. However, I think I am going to change the name as I refine the exhibit.

I am very interested in fiber optics and I thought it was cool how light can travel through transparent rods or fibers and emerge on the other end, even if you bend the rods. For this prototype, I wanted to play with the idea of using fiber optics to change the size of an image. I decided to use clear acrylic rods because they are fairly easy to obtain and behave very similarly to fiber optic cables. I contemplated physically changing the size of the rods in order to make one side larger, but it was very difficult to make consistent diameters by hand. I ended up creating the illusion of larger rods by increasing the spacing between the rods on one end. I made two grids and threaded each rods through them so that the "screen" at one end is larger than at the other end.

When the user puts a lit image up against the smaller end, he can see the same image projected through and enlarged at the other end. It also works backwards; that is, the user can hold an image up to the larger end and see it shrunk on the other side. Although I think it's more interesting to project a colored image through the rods, the user could instead shine a light at one end and use an opaque object to create a shadow that is transmitted through to the other side.

I had some problems getting my materials this week, which slowed me down. I ended up having to buy acrylic rods from two different places because they didn't come in from McMaster on time. In the future, this problem will hopefully be solved if I call in my orders and ask for one-day shipping. Another issue was that the projection of the image was not as sharp as I would have liked; perhaps this was because I wasn't able to get the ends completely transparent. This might be easier with larger rods? In my next iteration of this prototype, I would like to bring in the element of bending the rods to show hoe light can still travel through them. The rods I used for my first prototype were too small to bend, so I will use longer rods and bend them. I would also like to make the exhibit more interactive. I'm not sure if having the user be able to shine a lit image through the rods is interactive enough, but I will add another element to the exhibit so there are more possibilities for exploration.