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Exhibits

Everyone Is You and Me

Blend your face with a friend’s.

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.

Exhibit Developers: Robert Larue (Bob) Miller and Sally Duensing, 1976

What’s going on?

Coated with a thin layer of aluminum, this special glass works like both a mirror and a window. It reflects some light, and lets some light pass through. When your side is brighter, it’s easier to see your own reflection. When your friend’s side is brighter, you see more of their face.

Going further

Sometimes called two-way mirrors, glass windows of this type allow viewers on the more dimly lit side to observe people on the other side without detection. They’re used in market research and psychology studies, interrogation rooms, for security observation, and also in the filming of reality TV shows.

Phenomena: Cues: Amibiguous, Image Formation, Reflection, Visual Edge Effects

Keywords: mirrors

Collections: Boundaries, Reflections, Seeing the Light