#Magic window com windows

#Magic window com windows

'Our use of flat optical elements and a liquid crystal pattern with gentle variations prescribed by Berry's Laplacian image theory allows the magic windows to appear normal, or flat, when one looks through them.'Īfter fabricating a magic mirror and window, the researchers used a camera to measure the light intensity patterns produced by both devices. 'On a conceptual level, the theory developed by Berry was instrumental in determining how these liquid crystals must be oriented to create an image that is stable over a large distance,' said Hufnagel. By changing the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in this device, the researchers could alter the properties of the light as it travels through the device on a pixel-by-pixel basis. They used a Pancharatnam-Berry Optical Element (PBOE), which is a liquid crystal device that operates under a well-known principle called the Pancharatnam-Berry phase. In the new work, the researchers used a modified version of a well-known fabrication process that produces a specific liquid crystal pattern that allows a desired image to be created when illuminated. Liquid crystals are materials that can flow like a conventional liquid but have molecules that can be oriented like a solid crystal. This work inspired Hufnagel and colleagues to create a magic window based on liquid crystals. He later extended this knowledge to develop a theoretical basis for transparent magic windows in addition to reflective magic mirrors. 'The ability to obtain a long depth of focus could also make the approach useful for 3D displays that produce stable 3D images even when viewed from different distances.'Īlthough scientists have understood for decades that the ancient bronze magic mirrors formed images as a result of small surface variations, it was not until 2005 that Michael Berry, a mathematical physicist at the University of Bristol in the UK, derived the mathematical basis for this effect. 'Using liquid crystals to make magic windows or mirrors could one day make it possible to create a reconfigurable version for producing dynamic artistic magic windows or movies,' said Hufnagel. The process can also be used to create magic mirrors that reflect, rather than transmit, light to create an image.

In Optica, Hufnagel and colleagues describe the process they developed for creating transparent liquid crystal magic windows that can produce any desired image. 'By designing the window to be relatively smooth, the image that is created can be seen over a large range of distances from the window.'

'The magic window we created appears perfectly flat to the naked eye but, in fact, has slight variations that create an image in response to light,' said research team leader Felix Hufnagel from the University of Ottawa. It took until the early 20th century for scientists to understand that these devices work because an image cast into the back of the mirror creates small surface variations that cause the image to form - and it took until now for engineers to apply the same principle to liquid crystals for high-tech displays. Thousands of years ago, artisans in China and Japan made bronze mirrors that looked like a normal flat mirror while viewing one's reflection but formed another image when hit by direct sunlight.