In order to avoid creating panic attacks in claustrophobes, these lifts would have floor to ceiling television screens on each wall, permanently showing far-stretching scenary. Thus, the claustrophobe would think they were standing in a field rather than in a tightly enclosed space.
-- ccaamgw, Jul 11 2000

I'm reminded of this http://www.msnbc.ms...view-london-toilet/
[EdwinBakery, May 21 2012]

Now possible http://www.armaghel...LD950-3D-LCD-TV.jpg
[Voice, May 23 2012]

Better to have this just on one wall of the elevator so as to not upset all the agoraphobes.
-- hippo, Jul 11 2000


Hmm .. wonder what kind of funky things we'll see when we have really cheap and huge polymer displays everywhere. I guess this will be among them, not only for the claustrophobes.
-- erik, Jul 15 2000


Would that help a claustrophobe, or would they require true 3-D (or at least stereo goggles)? How much of an illusion is sufficient to placate a claustrophobe? Do you have to actually convince their (conscious, unconscious) mind that they're not enclosed, or is it a visual thing?
-- egnor, Jul 15 2000


I am not a claustrophobe, but my own experience is that even a simple mirror does a pretty good job of making a place look bigger. Enough so that it can be startling to consciously take stock of its actual size. Presumably a realistic wall display could give the same effect. (Indeed, until those cheap polymer screens hit the market, a well-mirrored lift would be a pretty cool thing, save only possible trouble in getting people to leave.)
-- eritain, Aug 09 2000


The agoraphobic I know would never go out of the house long enough to get into an elevator, so that shouldn't be aproblem. :)
-- arghblah, Sep 14 2000


[erik] - Advertising.

Different lifts (elevators) in a building could be marked as being suitable for people with different phobias. Standard lift for agorophobes, mirrored lift for claustrophobes, lift with non-mirrored ceiling and floor for vertigo sufferers, lift without lots of big hairy spiders for arachnophobes, lift which doesn't stop at the thirteenth floor for triskaidekaphobes.
-- hippo, Sep 15 2000


I like the idea of a simmulated expansion of space even less than the already funny feeling you get in a lift. I suppose you'd get to feel what its like above the earth: looking down to the far stretched scenery and moving at the same time. it (the lift) could brighten up your day by distracting you from the stress of work and thing more about being sick. anyway even if my eyes are being tricked my mind works out the illusion isn't real and makes me feel worse. for example, a pitch black room with star lights on one mirror wall and at least most of the other walls mirrors too, so the dots of light are reflected again and etc...kind of like the lift idea (i've been in one of these mirror rooms and i really dont like it, it feels very small because it seems so big)

im repeating myself, thankyou and goodbye
-- jinny, Sep 19 2000


I think this is a great idea, especially if the view is very scenic. Good mini-vacation. Maybe selecable by the rider based on an ongoing preference. Extend it to tiny, one-room apartments, too! :)
-- amadeus, Sep 22 2000


If you're building a glass elevator, watch out for the Knids!
-- Haemavore, Sep 24 2000


Those Knids, they'll getcha every time. Look out Otis.
-- IBBen, Sep 25 2000


How about putting a giant LCD panel under a transparent floor. You could display fish to give the glass-bottom boat feel to your elevator ride. Also could simulate leaving earth and going into space when the elevator goes up. Use the video walls to complete the experience. Put one on the ceiling and look at the sky, clouds, birds.
-- sh4linux, Nov 01 2000


I remember seeing a floor (maybe at the SF exploratorium?) that detected where people stood on it and calculated the boundaries between people, dividing the floor into zones with bright lines.

Well, that was pretty boring (although it would keep people busy for the duration of an elevator ride, trying to confuse the algorithm), but I'd love to have a virtual gold fish pond where fishes are attracted to people's feet tapping on the ground.

Even if you don't get a kick out of the fishes, seeing your fellow elevator passengers play with them definitely beats staring at the wall. (Especially if you take a clue from SeaMan(TM) and make the fish hypnotizeable with circular foot motions, or perform different tricks for different taps.)
-- jutta, Nov 01 2000


What about people who are afraid of elevators? How about an elevator that remained stationary while the building moved around it? Of course that would effectively make the building an elevator, but no one says you'd have to get out of the first one.
-- Ander, Jan 02 2001


Reviewers treat claustrophobes as stupid. Maybe TV screens will make me think I'm standing in a field? Come on! My phobia is reasonable. Elevators do get stuck. My panic at the very thought of this helps me avoid potentially dangerous situations of this sort. Istick to the stairs. Spend money on glass elevators on the outside of the building or visible on the side of an interior atrium as some hotels do, not on trying to fool a claustro that they are somewhere other than in a small box that might break down. You build ramps for wheelchair users, you don't tell them to find some more convenient (to others) way of getting about. Claustrophobia is as real as not being able to walk but is treated as an unfortunate delusion. Claustrophobes - get out of the closet!
-- bdurrans, Jun 22 2001


The a useful addition to lifts for this claustrophobe would be to fit all of them with a simple, well marked emergency exit hatch, and add a card that explains its use and how to climb a lift-shaft-ladder and open the sliding doors on the nerest floor from the inside.

Maybe its a fear of confinement I have, but I'm sure the knowledge that one could rescue oneself from a stuck lift would make the whole experiance less stressful.
-- Zircon, Jan 27 2002


Or just use paternosters everywhere.
-- Zircon, Jan 27 2002


[+] a bit more advanced and sensors could detect where a person is and adjust the screens' displays for a realistic viewing angle of the scene. There's no reason to limit it to mundane locales either: starscapes, Gigerian belly-of-the-beasts, etc. etc.

//I'd love to have a virtual gold fish pond where fishes are attracted to people's feet tapping on the ground.//

At the local Science Centre there is just such an exhibit: motion sensors detects people traversing a rather large pond projected onto the floor and the scene reacts appropriately to both location and weight, ie: jumping results in bigger ripples.

As a really nice touch the virtual fish are attracted to the smallest (ie: youngest) pedestrians.
-- FlyingToaster, May 17 2012


We need new words; there can't be that many people around these days who are afraid of cloisters and market places.
-- Phrontistery, May 20 2012


isn't that's a fear of Xmas, claus-tropobia
-- not_morrison_rm, May 23 2012


Well-aimed trebuchets would be more fun than paternosters.
-- RayfordSteele, May 23 2012



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