Hi Wayne, Thank you for this very informative video. I am currently working on an infinity mirror myself (for school) and in the video you mentioned that if you were to do it again, you would use first surface mirror. I would like you know, in your opinion, to what extent will using a first surface mirror as opposed to a goat glass mirror improve the infinity mirror effect. Would the ghost images be significant when the mirror coating is underneath? I will be using 3mm thick glass. Are there any other factors that you suggest I consider? Thank you very much!
My experience with first surface mirrors was in making high-end kaleidoscopes, which also involve multiple reflections. In those, it greatly improved image quality so I assume it would do the same for a infinity mirror. The problem is first surface mirrors are very expensive and I have yet to find any that are only partially reflective for the front mirror. Giving up on that, I recommend using glass as you mentioned and making sure you have some way to adjust the two mirrors so that they are perfectly parallel. This doesn't have to be anything fancy. The amounts will be small so thin pieces of tape in one corner or another to make all the reflections line up should do the trick. Good luck and thanks for commenting!
@@wayneschmidt490 Thank you very much for your prompt response! Do you think it would be worth using first surface mirrors just for the back "normal" mirror?
@@joshsticko A 12 x 16 inch sheet of first surface mirror costs $62 from Amazon. www.amazon.com/Front-Surface-Mirror-12-Sheet/dp/B00HHCXL7S/ref=sr_1_2?crid=340UWGD3QVCCB&dchild=1&keywords=first+surface+mirror&qid=1620334178&sprefix=first+surface%2Caps%2C266&sr=8-2 Assuming you get 20 reflections before things dim out too much, then using a first surface mirror in the rear and placing the partially reflective front mirror so that the reflections reflect off the reflective layer without going through the plastic first would reduce the number of times the light passes through the glass from 20 to 0. With 3mm glass, that's the same as eliminating a layer of glass 60mm thick. Also, even the cleanest clear glass reflects 4-percent of the light away from it's surface. that's another major loss you'd be eliminating. But, again, I haven't used first surface mirrors in an infinity mirror so while it sounds like it would help a lot, I can't state with authority how much better it would be. If this is for a science demonstration, it would be interesting to make two: one with and one without first surface mirrors and compare how they work. This would make a great RU-vid video. One I'd love to view.
finally a video i can actually get some good information ! one thing i wanted to ask , for example , if an object is placed in front of the infinity mirror, how well it reflects the object it self? theres a project i want to do , but im a bit worried that the mirror wont reflect or have a poor reflection of the object infront of it (it would be from 20mm to 50mm away from it) is there any chance you could do a short video of showcasing that?
That's a very interesting question. Sadly, I took my infinity mirror apart to make something else out of it so I can't test your idea. My impression is that the brightness of the light reflections inside the mirror are so great that any reflections of objects outside would be swamped. I would only expect to see a very dim ghost image on the front glass. If the object you had in mind was thin enough to put between the two mirrors, and you used two rings of light to illuminate both the front and back of it, that might create an interesting infinity object. Thanks for commenting and good luck with your project!
@@wayneschmidt490 i had that thought too that the bouncing light might not illuminate the object in front of it, unless it is placed in between the two mirrored surfaces where the light can actually reach it. I have thought up of a few different variations of how to try and achieve the effect i want, but will have to go through several prototypes, but people like us probably love that R&D process haha. Thanks for the quick reply!
hey I've always wondered that do we need to put the Two way reflective sheet on the entire surface... or can we put it just under the LED strips? Like if the LED strip is on the circumference then we can put the 2 way reflective sheet on just the circumference of the glass plate? Will that work?
That's a very interesting idea. What you would get would be a ring of reflections fading off into the distance with a clear area in the center. If you put a lighted object behind the infinity mirror, then the ring of reflections would appear to frame it. The problem would be stripping off the reflective coating in the center. Thanks for the idea and a great comment!
Hi Wayne and first of all very good video and a super explanation! I would also like to put me such a piece of art in the living room. When I was in Miami in 2019, I saw in a gallery a safe by Zac M. KNUDSON "In Case of Brokenness". I would love to create something like that for myself. However, I can not understand how the bills or coins are so beautifully illuminated, so indirectly. With the "Infinity Mirrors" you have the LEDs shown by you all around, with Knudson you can only see the red upper LEDs as a reflection, but not the indirect lighting. Do you know how he made that? And sorry for my English, I'm not a native speaker :) Best regards from Germany Markus
I think i got it :) The 6 cylindrical lamps from above are responsible for both, the red illumination and the bright illumination. These are probably covered with a red foil and thus provide for the interplay of both colors. cheers!
Hi, great work, very helpful. I just wonder how it would look if you add one or more layers of mirror? And add additional source of light in additional layer. Mayby if you use strobe light efect independent from sources, with smooth changing frequency on leds, it may create some additional reflection effects :)?
That's an interesting idea. The additional mirror would have to have a very low reflectivity to let enough light through for the main mirrors to create the infinity mirror effect. This means the reflections of it would be faint, like ghost images. Thanks for the comment!
If we accept the definition that a one-way mirror is a mirror that reflects when looked through from one side but doesn't when looked through from the other, then no. One-way mirrors work by having only a partially reflective surface. Some light is reflected, some passes through. The amount of reflected light varies from 50 to 70-percent, whereas full mirrors reflect up to 96-percent. Using two one-way mirrors in an infinity mirror rather than 1 one-way mirror and a fully reflective mirror would result in the reflective images dimming faster and the resulting images looking shorter. I hope this answers your question. Thanks for writing!
That's a very interesting question. The problem with seeing the farthest lights is that they are both very dim and small. Using a telescope might make them large enough to see. The main issue would be getting a telescope with a short enough focus distance. Binoculars might be better, or a camera with a close-up lens. Thanks for the comment!
Since the images loose light per reflection using the two mirror method. If you perfectly align the reflections the light is not present to view the images in infinite reflection. However, in theroy the images are still present despite the observers ability to see them. This is an interesting example of infinity at the least.
@@donovanschoor1473 What Peter was saying is that in perfectly aligned infinity mirrors, the reflections continue much longer than we can see them. At some point, the losses from each reflection adds up to the point where the last reflections are so dim, the human eye can't see them, even though they are still there. If you set up a camera with a very high ISO to capture an image of the reflections, if it was more sensitive that the human eye it would capture an image with more reflections than the average human can see.
Exactly, and as we know through the double slit experiment. The act of observation can have an effect upon matter in motion. I’m not certain what implications the infinite mirror experment demonstrates. However I do think there is a significant underlying principle we aren’t capable of comprehending yet. Possible applications include dimensional discovery, physics theories and human perception of consciousness/reality. Thank you for your thought inspiring videos.
Thanks for this marvelous explanation ❤❤❤. I just want to ask one more question does the thickness of these mirrors play any role in increasing it's beauty? Thanks in advance 😊😊
Have you ever looked at a thick pane of glass and noticed there are two reflections making a double image? It looks like that except the overlaid images are a little farther apart.
Here's what I used for the mirrors: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017ONH3EG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1 www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MXE417D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The metal frame was bent out of 1/2-9nch by 1/8-inch aluminum bar stock from a hardware store. The wood bases were just scraps found in the garage.
Can I put two row of led strip around than to have one??because I buy 5 meters led strip and I don't want to cut it can I around it two times??or will be to much light it and I will lose the effect??
I don't see why you couldn't use two strings. In fact, if they were mounted in a spiral it might look like a corkscrew going away in the distance instead of a series of flat squares. Thanks for commenting!
@Wayne Schmidt my wood frame is square how to put my led strip in spiral?? I have one idea to make a small hole canal and continue my led strip in the back of my wooden frame. So I will not cut my 5m led strip.. I buy two way mirror but I don't know if is the correct mirror glass the supplier told me if not work I must buy sun film window care to use. But I have a question the sun film side glass must be in the inside side or in outside side?
@@AnninosMichaelides The reflective side should always be on the inside. Once you have your frame, just run the light strip up one side any a slight angle so after you've gone once all the way around the inside of the frame, the second layer of light strip will line up along the first strip's side. This should produce a square-sided spiral, not a circular spiral.
I'm very sorry, but I don't understand your question. I don't know what Photobooth is or how it relates to infinity mirrors of RU-vid videos. If you can clarify what you want, I'll be happy to work with you to get whatever you need.
@@wayneschmidt490 ohI plan on building a photo booth with the idea on the video question is how can I still have the infinity effect with a person inside it?
@@leoadrian2486 Now I understand. Making an infinity mirror large enough for a person to be inside it would be extremely difficult and expensive. The mirrors would have to be very large (that's the expensive part) and they would have to be made of glass and framed (that's the difficult part. Plastic mirrors that large will have so many warps and bends that they would distort the image. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
@@leoadrian2486 I got to thinking about what you wanted to do after I replied to your explanation, and there's a chance you could create an infinity mirror effect with a person using a TV Infinity Mirror. Here's a video about how simple it is: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-i6z2WGuNwE0.html Sorry about the slow, monotone narration. That was one of my earlier videos. The older ones are even worse. What you could do is have someone sit in-between the camera and TV. With light just on them and a black background, you might get something acceptable. I've never done this so I can't guarantee it'll work. Good luck!
@@wayneschmidt490 It works, but it is missing something compared to real mirror: updating at the speed of light, that's why the digital 'reflection' becomes a 'trail' influenced by camera frame rate, camera sensor to display output latency, display input latency, refresh rate and pixel response. Tricky to get all of that under control, and it still adds up to look and feel different.
Great video Wayne! Very informative and great demonstration with the mirror rig. I too like Leo am looking into hanging something in an infinity mirror. I was looking at hanging (with light fishing wire perhaps) or even mounting by way of pegs through the rear mirror, something like a nice replica car. Creating a fancy display cabinet with the car replicating off into the box multiple times etc (infinity duh!). So to the question as well, I'm thinking of running three rows of LED strip equally spaced from the two mirrors and themselves. This I hope will create better lighting to all sides of the object, or is this not necessary as light is bouncing all over? The only bonus would be a denser light repeat in the "tunnel"? Giving a deeper perspective? And brighter the better inside so better mirroring in higher lighting conditions?... Oh for a workshop and tools, materials and time to experiment. Thanks for the info Wayne! Great stuff! I'm off to get the old mirror out of the loft! Just need some old covid screens and film when this is all over!! Thanks, Adam
At first I thought in the thumbnail, it had something hanging in between the mirrors but seems like something behind the test rig. So you just need a rod above the rig hanging a toy car, You can then slide it back and fourth closer to the front or rear, or in front or behind the light source. Just a thought for a new video. (Send all proceeds to.. LOL)
@@mrdjcobweb Thanks for commenting! You're right, I had one hand on each side. Actually, I'm on the right and my wife is on the left. Placing the object close to the rear mirror with the lights in front of it works the best because it allows light to illuminate the front side of the object. But, your idea of multiple strings of lights would change this. Two borders of lights with the object between them would illuminate both sides and eliminate the boring dark side of the object. How about two different colors of light strings? One side of the object would be one color and the other a different color. Suspending the object will be tricky. The bright lights will make any wires or strings easy to see. The post through the rear mirror idea sounds better. You're multiple light storing idea has a lot of possibilities. If you try it and post a video about it, please be sure to let me know so I can watch it! Good luck!
@@wayneschmidt490 I was thinking colour changing LED's would be very cool, and remote control possible, or even bluetooth to the phone. Independent of each other would be another level, slow colour changing. There goes the bugdet! Thanks Wayne, I'll do a video if it all comes together!
Barbers' shops have parallel mirrors. This is different because of LEDs and moving mirrors. But I saw something in an elevator like this and obviously, the mirrors weren't moving.
Hi! Thank you for commenting! I checked out your channel and enjoyed several of your videos, particularly the ones showing the progression of geometric designs. At first I thought they might have been string art being recorded in stop-motion photography, but then I figured out they were programs. If you enjoy that sort of thing, you might like the following video of a mechanical system for producing similar line drawings: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PhhOffJ4ZYQ.html
Hypercube is another name for an infinity cube, which is a cube made out of partially reflective mirrors on all six sides. Search RU-vid for "how to make an infinity cube" and you'll find many explanations on how they work. Good luck and thanks for commenting!
I have bad news for you. 🙂 My wife's mad at you. She recently threatened me that if I got involved in another crazy project she'd leave me. Now your question has me thinking about building a giant infinity cube. I predict rough seas ahead.
Like those mirror mazes some carnivals have. Instead of single images being reflected, people would se hundreds of them. read idea! Thanks for commenting!
