Learn with us online while the Exploratorium is temporarily closed. You can help us reopen—donate today.
Reflections
See Yourself as Never Before
Reflections, a special exhibition in 2009, invited visitors to explore the scientific and cultural history of mirrors—one of humankind’s most influential and intimate technologies—with activities and special events. Mirrors have played fundamental roles in science and inspired countless creative explorations of their poetic and psychological qualities.
- 2009
All Eyes on Me
Situate yourself at just the right place in space in front of this parabolic mirror array and you’ll see dozens of your own eyeballs peering back at you.
Cylindrical Mirror
This curved mirror distorts your reflection in surprising ways.
Everyone Is You and Me
By adjusting the light levels on either side of this half-silvered glass, you and a friend can merge your faces into a single composite face.
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Giant Mirror
This giant mirror was originally part of a flight simulator. Its size and near-perfect smoothness makes for astonishing optical (and acoustic) effects.
Self-Centered Mirror
It’s all you, and only you, in this mirror.
Self-Excluding Mirror
In this mirror, you’re nowhere to be seen.
What's Hot, What's Not?
At this exhibit, an infrared camera detects the heat radiating from warm objects and projects it on a big screen, allowing you to see what’s hot (and not) about you and the other people and objects in your surroundings.
Where: Crossroads: Getting Started
Your Father’s Nose
How does it feel to mix your face with someone else’s?
