Anti-Gravity Mirror
To do and notice:
Get a friend and have them stand on the #2 footprints. Then, you stand on the #1 footprints. Make sure the mirror is bisecting your body. Then start raising your right leg and move your right arm around. To the observer you’ll appear to be flying or hovering over the ground, defying gravity. Try new ideas such as making multiple arms and legs seemingly appear or make it look as if you are climbing up the edge of the mirror like Superman.
Also, stand in the #3 footprints and see how only half of a stuffed animal looks whole again. Now, hold the colored cards on the table up to the mirror. Notice that the reflection of the card (virtual image) along with the card makes a word.
What’s going on?
A person standing with the edge of a large mirror bisecting his or her body will appear whole to a person who's watching. To the observer, the mirror image of the left half of a person looks exactly like the real right half. Or if the person is standing on the opposite end of the mirror, the right half looks like the real left half. The person looks whole because the human body is symmetrical. The observer's brain is tricked into believing that an image of your right side is really your left side. The same is true for both the stuffed animals and the cards.
The Purpose:
Mirrors have been use as deceptive tools in a variety of situations. In this exhibit, it seems as if a person is actually flying. There are also other ways of using mirrors to deceive people. For example, the cars that floated across the desert in the movie Star Wars each had a full-length mirror attached along their lower edge, hiding the wheels. A camera pointed at a car saw a view of reflected sand and shadow in the mirror. That is how the cars appeared to float above the sand.