Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Made by Nicole Xiang and paddepal
Created: April 21st, 2023
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Intention
Our project is called “Mirror mirror on the wall” so just like the saying, this mirror will reflect you and who you really are. Mirrors are used for looking at yourself and are often associated with reflection. What if what’s reflected is not what you are familiar with? We tried to explore the boundaries of a “mirror” in order to create something that blurs the line between the known and unknown. The goal of this project is to unfamiliarize people with familiar things (in this case, a mirror) and to redefine them so that they have a new connection with the users.
Context
When we were ideating the project, we wanted to do something that makes everyday things or things that we take for granted act in surprising ways. We’ve been interested in mirrors since they can create so many effects like the infinite mirror, distorted images, colorization, etc.. We then were inspired by the computer vision project on Gates 9th floor where the camera feed is transformed/styled by a painting (see image). We thought this was really cool because it’s almost like looking at a different side of you (in painting style). To apply this idea of our mirror, we thought about adding filters so that when the user is close to the mirror, it suddenly changes what you look like in order to create the feeling of surprise and maybe unsettle.
Prototype/Outcome
For our prototype, we built a smart mirror system that shows a person’s reflection. However, it also can flip to show the person with a variety of “spooky” image filters. The project used a Raspberry Pi for the additional processing power that it provided, in addition to a 5MP camera for the Pi for better visual quality. We built a frame for an acrylic sheet, then put reflective film on the sheet in order to create the “mirror” effect. The frame also housed a monitor that would display the altered images as well as dark paper backing for the parts of the mirror that were not in front of the monitor screen.
Process
In our project, we began by exploring and building with the Arduino camera. We wanted to create an experience/object that would use this camera, as it tied heavily into the idea of data privacy and surveillance. We were both inspired by some of the displays around campus that used cameras to show different images of people, and we wanted to create our own spooky version.
We chose the mirror, an everyday object that people take for granted, to be our embodiment since we could deviate heavily from the normal using it. To build the mirror, we bought reflective film and an acrylic sheet so that we could make some of it purely reflective while also being able to cut it so that we could place the monitor. We created a prototype/demo frame using wood scraps so that we could house both the monitor and the mirror as well as the electrical components.
Initially, we wanted to create something that would distort the image when people come close to the mirror. We used a proximity sensor to do this with the Arduino Nano board, but we soon realized that the camera quality was not ideal for this project. As a result, we had to shift to using a Raspberry Pi and a separate camera module for it. This was challenging for us, as we had to set up the system with a short amount of time. We were able to find a library that could apply a few basic image filters (negative, gpen, cartoon, solarise, watercolour) to a live pixel data feed. However, with the short time, we had to scope down from including a proximity sensor and instead relied on manually switching to the filtered image.
A lot of this project was new to both of us. We’ve seen technology and objects like this before, but have never really worked with it although we are both interested in it. Writing the code and the basic setup of the electronics was quick, but building the actual object took more time than anticipated, leading to less advanced features for the actual prototype.
Open Questions and Next Steps
Over the next two weeks, we hope to refine the product from multiple angles. Since all the components work, we want to iterate on them further for a final polished product. We will be rebuilding the physical frame to be smoother and more like a real mirror, and we will try to hide/disguise the camera. In addition, we will be changing the experience by adding a proximity sensor so that the distorted image appears when someone walks up to the mirror.
During the critique, we received a lot of great feedback about the product. One of the notes that stood out to us was an idea for the different filters we could do. We initially wanted to move towards style transferring, where we could apply styles from different “spooky” paintings to the live image, but we heard that someone would find it really interesting to see themselves in different eras/time periods. We’re interested in seeing if this is possible given the performance bounds of the hardware, but if it is, we’d like to try creating something that shows people “going back in time.”
Reflection
Overall, this project demonstrated what the prototype is like and ways we can explore the ideas further. Even though it didn’t completely match our expectations, it set a foundation for what we wanted to do and the next steps. This prototype also made us realize which parts of the project are the most time-consuming and need to be rebuilt for the final showcase. The feedback we received gave us a new direction and though all the ideas about going back to different time periods are super cool, we need to discuss what’s feasible within the time frame.