The Anti-Mirror
An art installation that starts moving and distorting your reflection when you get close to it.
UC Berkeley, 2024
Collaborators: Sylvie Weintraub and Kaden Levitt
Skills: 3D modeling, microcontrollers, interaction design, laser cutting, 3D printing
Tools: Fusion, Arduino, C++
I am fascinated by highly interactive and high-tech art such as…
…Danny Rozin’s work on responsive tile grids…
…and Neil Mendoza’s work on a shifting mirror that runs away from you.
The goal of the Anti-Mirror is to understand the principles behind designing and building highly interactive and highly technical art pieces.
Me and two other Master of Design students were inspired to create the Anti-Mirror as the final project for our Technology Design Foundations class. Besides existing as a standalone art installation, we envision many use cases for the project, such as serving as an educational tool to demonstrate human-computer interaction or as a mindfulness tool to be used in meditation exercises.
Making process
CAD and rapid prototyping
I designed and fabricated each of the individual tiles in the 4x4 grid such that they could be connected to servo motors wired to a microcontroller. Getting a “tilting” motion of the tile, actuated by the servo motor, was tricky and took several iterations to perfect. I went through a few iterations of the concept of a 3D printed hinge, and ultimately decided on a hinge mechanism held together with screws.
Early sketches and iterations of a singular tile:
The final 3D modeled design and fabrication of the tile:
Modular design
My teammates started with designing and laser-cutting a 2x2 concept grid. After this proof-of-concept was complete, they focused on wiring up 16 servo motors to the Arduino and replicating the 2x2 frame three more times, to house a total of 16 tiles and motors.
Interaction design and tech
In the meantime, I used the proof of concept to experiment with what types of interactions worked best with The Anti-Mirror. After some experimentation with infrared sensors, ultrasonic sensors, and proximity sensors, I decided that The Anti-Mirror would work best using an ultrasonic sensor to gauge whether someone was near it, and continuously distort itself using various patterns. I wanted to showcase the fact that the tiles could move individually and within a relatively large grid.
I also wrote the Arduino code (assisted by ChatGPT) to move the tiles in individual patterns.
Lessons in exhibition design
We decided to display the Anti-Mirror on a window sill rather than mounting it on a wall or whiteboard because we wanted to minimize the chance of it being knocked off. Though most people were able to see themselves in the Anti-Mirror without bending down, it added an element of intrigue to those who needed to stoop down to see it. We also decided to display the wires and hardware without a casing to add a futuristic feel to the installation.
Outcomes/Reflections
The design process
This project has been the most involved version of the Ideate -> Design -> Test -> Iterate process that I’ve ever practiced. The fabrication of the tiles alone took several days and weeks to perfect, and required learning something from every single step. I worked across several disciplines - mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, design - to ultimately produce something that challenged me in every dimension.
Through the Anti-Mirror, I discovered a love for new media art, interaction design, and experience design!