Camera Obscura and the World of Illusions

Saturday was the last day that Michael was going to be with us. Phooey. So we decided to go out with a bang by going to Edinburgh's Camera Obscura and the World of Illusions. According to TripAdvisor, it is the number one rated attraction in Edinburgh. Simply put, it is a museum dedicated to doing tricks with light and tricking the mind. The museum was so miscellaneous and chaotic that to describe it it I have put it into sections.

Pictures

Right at the entrance we saw this cool holographic jungle cat. There were actually many holographs, but I didn't feel like taking two pictures of each one, so this is the only one shown. The holographs were so realistic that I added to my bucket list to have a 3D picture of myself taken. The cheapest way to do this would probably be with the 3DS, but if it ever becomes affordable I'd love to have a 3D portrait taken.

Above: These holographic images were very detailed.

Other pictures in the museum were classic mind twisters, like the works of Escher.

Above: Escher was the tamest part of this museum.

They also had other works that weren't from Escher. Often they looked like one thing from far away and then a completely different thing close up. I don't know if this effect is called something, but they used it everywhere here.

Above: People that are actually animals was a popular theme

Above: Birds on Top, Elephants on Bottom

There was a whole hallway full of MagicEye pictures. I'd never seen such large MagicEyes. The problem with them being so large was that is was harder than usual to see the image.

Above: I see something, but still don't know what it is.

We then went to a pinhole camera section of the museum. The interesting thing about pinhole photography is that it takes the picture upside down. This hanging man, when viewed through a pinhole camera stand in front of him, is right side up. He was pretty funny as-is though.

Above: Just Chillin'

There were also easier ways to make a 3D image.

Above: Top and Front View of City.

For the device below you put your nose on the red line and then your eyes see different images. It also produced a 3D effect.

Above: Large 3D Contraption.

This was a intricate wooden device that played music and moved after being cranked.

Above: Sometimes you just need a wooden dog playing piano, you know?

Mirror Magic

As you can imagine this illusions museum had many tricks that involved mirrors. I've never seen so many one-way mirrors in my life.

These distorted pictures were very neat. They only worked when viewed from a certain angle.

Above: First you see some mountains...

Above: Woah, where did that face come from?

Above: One Heckuva Weird Way to Water a Tree

Then there were these mirror tunnels with decorations. They created these huge virtual spaces with a floating sphere in the center of it.

Above: What's worse than one camera flash?

Above: The View Below Me.

Above: I just thought the floating sphere was really cool.

Above: The whole ball with flash.

Above: The whole ball without flash.

Then there was the basic but impressive infinity one-way mirror-facing-a-mirror effect.

Above: Sara and Jordan.

Above: View to ground, imaginary huge drop!

Then we had the beheadment table. It's a pretty neat concept, and was perfect for pictures.

Above: Bodies are for chumps.

This is the Ladder to Australia. If we actually had a tunnel that went that deep rungs would be unnecessary. It's a classic gravity train: you fall until you hit the center of the earth and then the momentum carries you up the other side. With no friction it would require no energy. But that's neither here or there.

Above: There's only one rung.

Then we completed something from my bucket list. I've always wanted to be in a body-sized maze, and here they had a mirror maze. The others said it was pretty easy to navigate due to fingerprints on the walls, but I still didn't know where anything was. I definitely hit several dead ends.

Above: Mirror mazes are very exciting

The Namesake: The Camera Obscura

So the Camera Obscura is an extremely interesting device that projects a live image from outside. It requires no energy to run, and takes in light from the outside and focuses it onto a white table in a darkened room.

Above: A pretty accurate diagram of the darkened room.

Above: Everybody come in.

The darkened room was the one place in the museum where I wasn't supposed to take a picture. So I took a flash-less picture before the guide got in the room. Below we could see the flag waiving, which was really neat. What I didn't take a picture of was when the guide pointed the camera at the sun. Because it uses focused light instead of used electronics, the sun was really bright. In fact, it created a beam of light pointing to the table.

Above: The Camera Obscura on Edinburgh Palace.

One place of interest was a school that Rowling said was her inspiration for Hogwarts. And yes, I will write about anything Harry Potter related in this blog.

Above: Inspiration for Hogwarts.

Straight-up Amazing Effects

There was one room that had a thermal camera. I couldn't resist taking a picture. When we all gathered together, I noticed that I was significantly warmer than everyone else. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. I'll just attribute it to my green super-jacket.

Above: Proof Bryan's Hot.

There was also a photosensitive wall. It worked by using a button that takes a flash after three seconds. So we all tried a fighting pose, it was pretty sweet. One problem: you can't take a picture of it with flash!

Above: Picture with flash.

Above: Picture without flash.

By the far the most disorienting feature of the world of illusions was the spinning tunnel of colorful lights. We went on it multiple times. I really cannot overexaggerate how much this threw me off. Imagine wearing a tight long-sleeve shirt. Now imagine twisting one sleeve many times in the clockwise direction. The friction from the sleeve twists your arm in the counterclockwise direction, making your whole arm uncomfortable. The only relief is by twisting your arm counterclockwise, right?

That's what this tunnel felt like, only for your whole body! I only felt comfortable if i walked curving left. walking in a straight line was downright uncomfortable, almost impossible. I tried sticking around, and I nearly tripped over myself.

Above: The flash kills the effect.

The whole experience was surreal. It's like your leaving the known universe behind and substituting it with an endless colorful vortex. The handrails are absolutely necessary. I nearly fell over the waist-high rails.

Above: This picture now brings up disorientation for me, like a nightmare.

Craziness.

Finally we had the scaling room. This is the classic set-up where people stand at opposite sides of the room, and one person gets scaled up while the other side gets scaled down. Part of the trick is that the back wall isn't flat. Also, the floor is steep, which is why Michael's head is at the same height as Sara's belly.

Above: What's with girls pretending to be tall?

I also took a picture of what I saw. The whole room is just screwy, but the effect is really cool.

Above: A different view.

The whole experience at the museum made my head hurt. It was amazing, but my brain was happy when we got outside and saw the light of day. Final verdict: I loved this place. It is a must-go for anyone who likes magic and mind-tricks.

Afterwards we went to Vittoria's restaurant for dessert. There I had a Knickerbocker Glory, mostly because I remember reading about it in the first Harry Potter books.

Above: Knickerbocker Glory.

It was a tall glass filled with layers of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream. On the bottom was some fruits, and on the top was some whipped cream and strawberry topping. Delicious.