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BUILDING TIPS: MIRRORS

USING MIRRORS TO CREATE OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

If you've read our tips on creating a transparent Pepper's Ghost hologram, you are already somewhat familiar with using mirrors to create optical illusions. Here's a bit of a primer on creating endless hallways and other never-ending spaces.

DIY Optical Illusions With Mirrors

(Image by Dorothea Redmond)

There are simpler creations to make than what's in the image above, such as an endless hallway with a floor and ceiling. These would probably only necessitate a couple of mirrors. However, as you can see, this one has bottomless depths and height as well. For something like this, you would need 4 mirrors.

Materials Needed:

• (1) Two-Way Mirror
• (3) One-Way Mirrors
• Wood panels
• Lighting
• Space in which to create your illusion

How To Do It:

1. The Space: - Find an area where you want to set up your illusion. This one is set up in what's basically a doorway with very little depth inside, like a closet.

2. The Inner Walls: - The walls that you see inside of the illusion are simply wooden panels. Unless your chosen space already has great looking panels for your illusion, you'll want to choose some of your own that run the full height of your space.

3. Two Way Mirror: - Your first mirror will be a two-way mirror right in front. You will be looking through the transparent side of the mirror so that you can see what's on the other side. The mirrored side will face inward, away from you.

4. Mirror on Back Wall: - The second mirror you place will be a normal, one-way mirror on the back of your space, facing toward you. This creates the endless hallway appearance between the two mirrors.

5. Top / Bottom Mirrors: - The 3rd and 4th mirrors will be place on the top and bottom of the space, which will create the endless depth and endless sky appearance. You will have to experiment and adjust with the angles of these mirrors to make sure they give the desired effect.

6. Lighting: - The lights here are simple low-wattage bulb lights, suspended by thin wires/cables. They will reflect endlessly with everything else, creating the illusion of a billion lights. The light helps create the depth.

Feeling Creative? Experiment with mirrors to make your own original creations as well!

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