Awesome Mirrors

Snapping selfies in a mirror lets you take advantage of the higher quality cameras on the back of your phone. The downside is that you get the phone in the shot. Unnecessary Inventions pokes fun at this silly pastime with a combination smartphone case and mirror so you can shoot mirror selfies anywhere you go.

Mirror artist Nicky Alice created this captivating and hypnotic sculpture which looks like a series of infinitely-floating cubes. The trick to the illusion is the precisely-cut mirrors and the built-in LED illumination. His mirrored pyramid design is also really awesome.

Unless you’re a vampire, a mirror will reflect your face when you look at it. But The Action Lab’s unique mirror is a bit different. It uses a liquid crystal panel to block out the mirror and an expression recognition app that detects if its user isn’t smiling. We like the creative approach he came up with for the triggering system.

Now that The Action Lab has painted a room in the blackest and glowing-ist paints, he’s renovated his temporary space again. This time, he covered its walls, ceiling, and floor entirely with mirrors. Despite the reflections seeming infinite, he explains how they eventually drop off.

Adafruit Industries produces some really nifty components for making electronic gadgets. In this video, they show how their NeoPixel LED strips can be used with a one-way mirrored sheet, acrylic, and some 3D-printed bits to make an infinity mirror you can toss in your pocket. Build details and parts list here, and the source code is here.

There are lots of inexpensive home projectors these days, but most of the cheap ones aren’t very high resolution. DIY Perks shows us how he built his own that has the same 4K resolution as the ones in movie theaters, using entirely off-the-shelf components, including a bright 100-watt LED and an LCD panel from a smartphone.

A holoscope is a mirrored box you can peer into and view kaleidoscopic images which reflect off of its walls. In this clip from Vitalius Space, he shows us how to build a simple cube-shaped holoscope which produces an infinite starry sky effect inside. With enough skill and patience, it’s possible to build more complex versions.

Artist Parker Heyl created this ingeniously simple but visually stunning installation work. Inspired by Jacob’s Ladder toys, it mechanically flips dozens of them with wood on one side and mirrors on the other to reflect colorful, ever-changing imagery. More here.

While most mirrors today are made in big factories, UK ornamental glass artist David Smith shows us how to do it the old school way. It’s done by taking a clean sheet of glass, pouring silver nitrite on one side, then carefully moving it to evenly coat its surface.

This mirror-image video made from footage along one of Tokyo’s rail lines is more than a little reminiscent of Darwinfish105’s HyperDrive and the Tokyo Sky Drive series, but its slower and more relaxed pace lets us check out more detail of the surrounding environment.

It’s tricky to shoot good images with a mirror in the shot, but the guys at COOPH show us six clever ways to use these reflective surfaces to capture some truly creative photos. Though we recommend wearing gloves before handling shattered mirror glass.

Kentucky’s Omega Mirror Products is the last American maker of the shiny dancefloor items of the disco era. In this brief profile from NBC Nightly News, we meet Yolanda Baker, who has been handmaking the mirrored orbs since their 1970s heyday.

Located in Hangzhou, China, and designed by XL-MUSE, Zhongshuge bookstore has walls and ceilings covered with mirrors to exapnd its space to depict an inventory of books that rivals the Library of Congress. The kids’ section is especially awesome. (Photos by Shao Feng)

Do you wish you could change something every time you look in the mirror? This is the mirror for you. Atypyk’s, Photoretouch Mirror acts as a not so subtle reminder to stop being so vain. Made from Perspex. Measures ~17″ x 12.6″.

See if you’re beach-ready with this neat surfboard-shaped mirror. It also has three storage shelves on the back for storing your surf wax and suntan lotion. It’s made of pine and measures 16.25″w x 10.5″d x 56.25″h.

Made of stainless steel and mirrored glass, with genuine skate trucks to complete the look. Also comes with a set of skate stickers. A quirky holiday gift for skaters. Just make sure they don’t ride it.