Mirrors: "Why the Long Face?"

"Why the Long Face?" (An Exploration of Mirror Anamorphosis)

Project in a Nutshell: My project exhibited anamorphic images, which are distorted images that become comprehensible at certain angles or when reflected in curved mirrors.

Conception and Evolution:  I was initially inspired to create an exhibit on reflections when I thought back to an art project I did in high school in which I drew a colored pencil still life of my reflection in an ornament. I remembered how the warping of my face changed depending on the distance of my face from the ornament, and I noted that unlike a marble, my image was not flipped upside-down. Whereas the ornament warped my face in the art piece, I did the reverse for my exhibit prototype: the actual images were warped, but took on their true form in the cylindrical reflection.

Ideal Interaction: When I created the prototype I wanted to incorporate user interaction so I have one mirror set-up that says "try this!" where I encourage passersby to draw an image or write a phrase on the unwarped grid, translate that to the warped grid, then see how it looks in the mirror reflection, thereby executing the image-translation process by hand. The ideal interaction would be for the user to observe all of the reflections in the cylindrical mirrors, then try the "try this!" activity afterward. 

During the open commentary from classmates, several people also pointed out how the cylinders were moveable and they weren't sure if the intention was to allow the museum viewer to interact directly with the exhibit by moving cylinders around. Initially that hadn't been my plan, but I feel this is an interesting possibility I hadn't considered earlier. I think there is definitely potential in encouraging viewers to move the cylinders around to discover the faces themselves, especially if the warped images don't take an obvious form without the reflection, thus allowing the user to "discover" the images. However, I should be careful to make the interactions purposeful so that users actually gain something from this exploration process. This is something I could experiment with through user testing.

Problems and Improvements: I initially wanted to use images of buildings around Stanford campus such as the Hoover Tower, but I realized that even when warped, the image was obviously that of Hoover Tower---no element of surprise. Thus I decided to use drawings instead --- sketches of faces I drew, then warping them with Photoshop. To add to the element of surprise / delight, I could try obscuring the face even further so that its integrated in to a larger picture, and you wouldn't be able to even see the anamorphism until you used the cylindrical reflector. 

* I also noticed that the vinyl tended to wrinkle when you wrapped it around the cylinders, so I had imperfect mirrored surfaces; however, it sufficed for the prototype. I would use actual cylindrical mirrors if I were to rebuild the exhibit.

* I would also experiment with the idea of encouraging users to move the cylinders (perhaps provide cylinders of different diameters) onto the images themselves to promote the idea of discovery / experimentation. However, I'm not sure if this would encourage thinking or just be too distracting / too disorganized. I would have to experimented with this and have users test it out.

* I would definitely modify the "try this!" set-up so that instead of sheets of paper with the grid and warped-grid, I would use a whiteboard or create an erasable surface with plexiglass where users could directly draw on the warped grid, erase, modify, and repeat. 

Other ideas: I had several other ideas related to light reflections from mirrors, since I find them mesmerizing, organic, and beautiful---similar how Bryan or Alon's exhibits played with light. The inspiration is from how CD-roms reflect light beautifully. One idea I initially had was to use the laser cutter to etch various cuts into the mirror (and glass as well) such as linear cuts, circular cuts, etc. Then I would reflect light off of these surfaces to see if these different cuts cast different light reflections. When I went to shop with my design the PRL TA told me the design would probably take at least an hour to cut, and I hadn't allotted enough time with the laser cutter to do so. However, this is something I'd be interested in experimenting with in the future, especially since I'm not sure how the end results will turn out (it might fail … but fail early!)