February 2006
Beginner
224 pages
7h 28m
English

Build this simple eye-tricking instrument on the cheap, for about 10 bucks.
Photograph courtesy of Rob Hartmann
See everything inside out through this classic optical instrument.
The pseudoscope is a device that plays a trick on the eyes, switching the perception of near and far by reversing stereoscopic vision. It was invented by the great Victorian-era scientist Charles Wheatstone, and M.C. Escher used one to help create some of his famous perspective-bending illustrations.
You can buy one of these unusual devices for about $800 from Grand Illusions, so I decided to build a simple one of my own. Actually, ...