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Exhibits

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Perception

A Sip of Conflict
A Sip of Conflict

Would you, could you, will you drink from a water fountain fashioned from an actual—but unused—toilet? Porcelain is just porcelain . . . right? 

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Adapting to Color
Adapting to Color

Change your perception of color by flooding your eyes with colored light.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Aeolian Harp
Aeolian Harp

An eerie orchestral chord floats on the breeze; it’s the shimmering sound of a 27-foot tall harp being strummed by the wind.

Where:   Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits

All Eyes on Me
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.

Where:   Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Ames Chairs
Ames Chairs

What we see can depend on what we expect to see.

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Animation Tower
Animation Tower

Quick-changing views create the illusion of motion.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Anti-Gravity Mirror
Anti-Gravity Mirror

Here’s an exhibit where watching is at least half the fun. You can create any number of gravity-defying illusions that will amaze you and your friends: Levitate, fly, swim though the air, grow limbs (and dissolve them), crawl straight up the wall like a lizard—the sky’s the limit.

Where:   Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Aurora
Aurora

A reflector stretches light from colored tiles into long bright ribbons.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Benham's Disk
Benham's Disk

When the disk is spun, the colors you see are illusions. This effect was popularized in 1894 by toymaker C. E. Benham, who called his spinning disk an “artificial spectrum top."

Where:   Crossroads: Getting Started

Big Chair, Little Chair
Big Chair, Little Chair

Each of the chairs in this series has dimensions that are twice that of the smaller chair. But doubling the dimension of a chair doesn’t double its strength.

Where:   Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Big Tuning Fork
Big Tuning Fork

Distinct tones combine in the hum of this tuning fork.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Bird in a Cage
Bird in a Cage

Stare at a bird’s eye for 30 seconds, then look into the empty cage. You’ll see a ghostly bird—of a very different color—inside the cage

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Black Sand
Black Sand

At this simple but ever-popular exhibit, black sand from nearby beaches make spiky patterns that reveal the invisible magnetic field between the poles of two giant magnets.

Where:   Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Blood Cells in Your Eye
Blood Cells in Your Eye

Gaze into the eyepiece at the blue light, looking for bright specks moving in short bursts against the background, and feeling your pulse as you watch them.

Where:   Gallery 4: Living Systems

Bright Black
Bright Black

At this exhibit, find out how subjective brightness can be as you struggle—and fail—to correctly decide whether the squares you see are black or white. 

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Bronze Hand
Bronze Hand

The combination of past experience and the sight and feel of being touched seems to change your brain's definition of your body's boundaries. You may even feel as if the fake hand is part of you.

Where:   Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Café Wall Illusion
Café Wall Illusion

These tiles aren't really crooked–they just look that way.

Where:   Crossroads: Getting Started

Change Blindness
Change Blindness

Something changes each time this picture blinks . . . but you probably won't see it.

Where:   Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Cheshire Cat
Cheshire Cat

Make your partner's face disappear, leaving only a smile.

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Chromoscope
Chromoscope

A color photo is three pictures in one.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Color Conflicts
Color Conflicts

When can reading get in the way of speaking?

Where:   Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Color Your Judgment
Color Your Judgment

Your expectations may change your experience.

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Colored Circles
Colored Circles

Overlapping pools of red, blue, and green create a Venn diagram of additive color. 

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Colored Shadows
Colored Shadows

Step in front of this wall, and you’ll make shadows of various colors—yellow, magenta, cyan, red, green, blue, and yes, even black—that wiggle, jump, and dance along with you.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Corner Reflector
Corner Reflector

This reflector has you cornered: It always sends light back in the direction from which it came.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Countless Colors
Countless Colors

How many colors can you make by mixing red, green, and blue light?

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Disagreeing About Color
Disagreeing About Color

Which of the outer dots best matches the center dot? Ask a few people and chances are you’ll get a few different answers.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Disappearing Act
Disappearing Act

An animal that blends in with its environment is much easier to see when it's moving than when it's still.

Where:   Crossroads: Getting Started

Disappearing Glass Rods
Disappearing Glass Rods

When light passes from one clear medium into another, it (usually) bends—a phenomenon called refraction. Distortions caused by refraction are part of why you can see objects that are clear.

Where:   Crossroads: Getting Started

Distorted Room
Distorted Room

From one view, this room looks like a normal room, but people and things inside may seem quite strange.

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Duck Into a Kaleidoscope
Duck Into a Kaleidoscope

Step inside—and reflect.

Where:   Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Everyone Is You and Me
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.

Floater Theater
Floater Theater

Floater Theater is an intimate theatrical environment that whimsically prompts participants to explore the fascinating, commonly experienced phenomenon of eye floaters.

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Focused Conversation
Focused Conversation

This giant balloon bends sound waves just as a lens bends light.

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Giant Mirror
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.

Where:   Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Gray Step
Gray Step

With the rope hanging down, the left and right sides of the board appear identical. Lifting the rope shows the dramatic difference that your eyes missed—and continue to miss, as soon as you let the rope fall again.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Hoop Nightmares
Hoop Nightmares

Your brain adapts quickly to a warped view of the world, turning baskets into air balls.

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Humming Plates
Humming Plates

Sand reveals vibrations that are normally invisible.

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Image Relay
Image Relay

Lenses transmit an image of your face across space.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Jacques Cousteau in Seashells
Jacques Cousteau in Seashells

There’s more to seeing than meets the eye.

Where:   Ray and Dagmar Dolby Atrium

Look Into Infinity
Look Into Infinity

Reflections bounce back and forth into infinity.

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Lumen-Illusion
Lumen-Illusion

Flashing lights create the illusion of motion.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Magic Wand
Magic Wand

Wave the wand quickly and see an image appear.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Mirrorly a Window
Mirrorly a Window

Confusing sensory information can be profoundly disturbing.

Where:   Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Monochromatic Room
Monochromatic Room

Things look oddly colorless in this room because they’re lit by light of only one color—a sodium vapor lamp of the type often used for streetlights. 

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Mood Lighting
Mood Lighting

Sit down in a cozy chair and bathe your brain in a bubble of color of your choosing, dialing up anything from amber to violet. As you spend a few moments with each color, you may feel a shift in your own emotional hue.

Where:   This exhibit is not currently on view.

Perspective Drawing Window
Perspective Drawing Window

Tracing on the glass produces precise perspective.

Where:   Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits

Pitch Slider
Pitch Slider

The length of this vibrating rod affects the sound it makes.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Pixel Table
Pixel Table

Create myriad colored shadows with mirrored tubes.

Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections

Rotating Shadow House
Rotating Shadow House

A rotating structure made of laths casts shadows that slowly change, calling to mind the shifting light of a day or a season and producing unexpected variations. Benches allow for relaxation and quiet watching.

Where:   Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits

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