DIY
SCIENCE
Build this simple
eye-tricking instrument
on the cheap, for about
10 bucks.
TEN DOLLAR
PSEUDOSCOPE
See everything inside out through this classic
optical instrument. By Rob Hartmann
Photograph courtesy of Rob Hartmann
The pseudoscope is a device that plays a trick Assemble It
on the eyes, switching the perception of near I built the pseudoscope the way you’d guess
and far by reversing stereoscopic vision. It was just by looking at it. First, I measured and drilled
invented by the great Victorian-era scientist the holes in the board. Then I drilled the cubes,
Charles Wheatstone, and M.C. Escher used one glued the mirrors to the cubes, and screwed the
to help create some of his famous perspective- cubes onto the board. I didn’t glue the cubes to
bending illustrations. the baseboard because you need to be able to
You can buy one of these unusual devices for rotate the mirrors to align them depending on the
about $800 from Grand Illusions, so I decided distance to the subject matter.
to build a simple one of my own. Actually, I’ve Countersink the holes in the base so that the
built a couple of them now, with varying de- screws won’t scratch table surfaces. Also, drill the
grees of complexity, but here I’ll show you how holes in the cubes before you attach the mirrors.
to make the easiest one for much less money: Wooden cubes from craft stores, like the ones
about $10. I used, aren’t all perfectly square. For each cube,
