year: 1993

Electronic Mirror

Interactive computer installation at the Institute for New Media, Frankfurt 1993; ARS Electronica, Linz, 1994; Gallery Power Plant, Toronto, 1995

In this mirror, you can see yourself only from a distance. The viewer, by walking closer or further away, can change how sharply the mirror portrays the presence of his image, from full reflection to no image whatsoever.
A mirror is mounted in a frame behind a pane of liquid crystal film. The LC-film can be rendered from fully transparent to completely opaque in varying degrees. Triggered by an ultrasonic sensor measuring the viewer's distance from the mirror, a computer-controlled dimmer switch determines the grade of transparency.

Programming: Daniel Schmitt