I've formulated a nice piece for an art exhibit; a mirror that reflects what the camera behind it saw five minutes ago.

The first visitors to the exhibit would see a mirror of the exhibits behind it, stare at it for a while wondering what the point of it was, and move on. The next set of visitors would see the previous visitors staring at them, look at the mirror suspiciously, maybe make a funny face, and move on. The chaos continues as time progresses...

There might be better uses for a time-delayed mirror, but I think this would make for a nice piece of art.
-- ashibaka, May 01 2002

photographic mirror http://www.halfbake...otographic_20mirror
Similar idea, different intent. [phoenix, May 02 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

B&W mirror http://www.halfbake...idea/B_26W_20mirror
same device, different intent. [stupop, May 02 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Go find an old Abekas A62 ddr and a cheap camera and monitor and you're in biz. I think the Abekas can simultaneously record and playback with an up to 30 minute delay at full NTSC bandwidth. Probably can be had very cheaply considering they were state of the art in the mid to late 80s.

Sorry, I don't think they ever made them in PAL.
-- bristolz, May 01 2002


If it could be pulled off convincingly, this would be great. If not, it would just be like tape recorded TV and would be dull. The hardest part, beyond image quality, is getting perspectives to act correctly - for example, when you change your viewpoint, objects in the image should move relative to one another. I don't think that can be done (at least not for multiple viewers) with a simple 2D camera / playback approach. Anyway, I'm voting +.
-- spartanica, May 02 2002


If the device is the same, but the intent is different, is it redundant?
-- waugsqueke, May 02 2002


It would be similar to the B&W mirror wouldn't it? I'll just go and have a look. (link). I don't think this idea is redundant though - after all a lot of the ideas on the 1/2B are derivative.
-- stupop, May 02 2002


¯waugsqueke: Same device, different intent? I dunno, but I'm wrestling with combining 8-Ball speech in another poster's idea with ATM displays at grocery checkouts and other places...

This idea [time-delay mirror] sounds like it does what it claims to do, so I guess the onus is on the poster(s) to ask themselves "if I change my idea's title to read like this poster's idea title, would I be seeing the same idea or a better version of my own idea?" and to act accordingly by either deleting their own inferior idea or to perhaps suggest to their peer a mutual exchange of rights to the idea and the better idea remain with the better title.
-- reensure, May 02 2002


I was thinking more along the lines that, if indeed this apparatus can be shown to be the same as the one linked above, perhaps this idea would be more appropriate as an annotation to the first idea, rather than stand alone.

I'm not suggesting it should be, though. I'm only pondering the matter.
-- waugsqueke, May 02 2002


Hrm? Maybe this belongs under product: mirror, but I don't really think it's an annotation to the general "electronic mirror" idea. It isn't as useful as a photographic mirror. =P Should I recategorize?
-- ashibaka, May 02 2002


Actually, there is an easier way to do a time delay mirror. Light slows down as it enters a transparent medium. The denser the medium, the slower the light goes. In effect, if you had a medium that slowed light down so that it took two-and-a half minutes for it too reacht the mirrors silver backing, then anyone looking in the mirror, would see what was seen five minutes ago. Non of this foutering about with a camera either.
-- [ sctld ], May 03 2002


baked<CR> i saw this art installation at the pompedieu in paris. it spent a littel while at it it was so fun. the delay was about 20 sec. i could stand behind a stranger and supply them with bunny ears, then walk to the edge of the space and wait for them to turn on a ghost.<cr> another baking can be found in the prada store in soho in new york city. the "mirrors" in the changing rooms are off by a few seconds so you can check out your own ass.
-- gnormal, May 03 2002


[ sctld ]: Easier? Good grief.
-- bristolz, May 03 2002


Sounds like a reflective version of the "slow glass" in Bob Shaw's novel "The Light Of Other Days"...
-- JKew, May 04 2002


If you get a dense enough peice of a transparent medium, you could use ti as a (pardon the pun) 'Window on the past', because it could take, say, one hundered years for the light to travel, and so you would be seeing what had happened one hundered years ago. Kinda like a long play VCR, only without any moving parts.
-- [ sctld ], May 05 2002


Hands off the mirror to a friend, "Take this home and plug it into your enlarger. It's so cool, and man, whatever you do -- don't sit on it for long."
-- reensure, May 05 2002


"i saw this art installation at the pompedieu in paris. [snip]"

Wow, that's neat, I should have gone there when I went to Paris. Feh.
-- ashibaka, Jun 06 2002


Similar to [_sctld_]'s idea, but doesn't require any new material - simply situate the mirror 2.5 light-minutes (44 968 868 700 m) away, and give your visitors a really good telescope.
-- dbmag9, Sep 03 2006



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