Kaleidoscope camera: how kaleidoscopes work and how to get great patterns

How does a kaleidoscope work?

Britannica explains it simply. If you put an object between two mirrors at right angles, each mirror shows an image of it, and each of those images is reflected again in the other mirror. The result looks like four objects arranged symmetrically. Tilt the mirrors to 60 degrees and one object becomes six regularly placed images, giving a hexagonal pattern.

The University of Wisconsin Madison’s physics museum describes a kaleidoscope with two mirrors set 45 degrees apart, which gives the final image an 8 fold symmetry: the image repeats 8 times.

So the pattern is a wedge of the scene repeated round a circle. A narrower wedge means more repeats and a busier pattern. A wider wedge means fewer, bolder repeats.

According to Britannica, a simple kaleidoscope has two wedge shaped mirror strips, or a single sheet of bright aluminium bent to 60 or 45 degrees, inside a tube. At the far end, a box of coloured glass, tinsel or beads tumbles into a new arrangement every time you turn or tap it. Britannica adds that some kaleidoscopes skip the box and use a lens to put distant objects onto the mirrors instead, which is the same idea as pointing a camera at the world.

Who invented the kaleidoscope?

Britannica says Sir David Brewster invented the kaleidoscope around 1816 and patented it in 1817. The University of Wisconsin Madison museum notes that he came up with the idea while studying the polarisation of light. V&A Dundee describes Brewster as a Scottish polymath who invented it in Edinburgh to study the workings of light, and says it went on to become a sensation across Europe and beyond. The museum’s Scottish Design Galleries hold an original patent kaleidoscope from 1820.

V&A Dundee also describes a version with a clear sphere at the end instead of loose beads, called a teleidoscope, which turns whatever you point it at into patterns. Visitors to its shop, it says, sometimes hold one up to a phone and take pictures through it.

What makes a good kaleidoscope camera shot?

Because the pattern repeats one wedge of the frame, the best subjects are the ones that look interesting in a small slice:

• Strong colour and contrast. Flowers, fabric, fairground lights, street art and fruit all give bold patterns.
• Lines and edges. Railings, leaves, brickwork and shelves of books make sharp geometric shapes when mirrored.
• Movement. Slowly turning the phone, or letting people move through the frame, makes the pattern change in real time.
• Faces and hands. Moving your fingers together and apart in front of the lens is one of the suggestions the Wisconsin museum gives for its kaleidoscope.

Try the same subject at different distances. Coming in close makes one detail fill the wedge, while stepping back brings more of the scene into each repeat.

Is a spinning kaleidoscope safe to watch?

For most people, yes, but fast changing patterns are worth a little care. The Epilepsy Society explains that in photosensitive epilepsy, seizures can be triggered by flashing lights or contrasting light and dark patterns, and that some people are sensitive to geometric patterns with contrasting light and dark, such as stripes. It also says flashing or patterned effects can make people with or without epilepsy feel disorientated, uncomfortable or unwell.

So keep spinning patterns slower when other people are watching, and stop if anyone feels unwell.

Questions people ask

Where Kaleidoscope Cam helps, and where it does not

Kaleidoscope Cam is our Android kaleidoscope camera. It turns your live camera view, from the back or the selfie camera, into mirrored segments. Spin turns the scene under the mirrors, just like turning a real kaleidoscope, and you can pinch and drag to choose what the mirrors see or freeze the picture. Save square photos and short videos of the moving pattern to your phone and gallery. Classic prism and Jewel facet styles are free, with a small watermark on photos and videos. A one-time Pro unlock adds Crystal, Neon mandala, Soft pastel and Chaos glitch-lite styles, removes the watermark and makes longer, sharper videos. It shows a photosensitivity warning on first launch and has a reduce motion setting. It works offline, and your photos and videos stay on your phone. There is no subscription.

What it is good for: quick, colourful pattern photos and short videos from everyday scenes.

What it will not do: it mirrors the scene in front of it, so dull or plain subjects still give dull patterns. Spinning patterns can be uncomfortable for some viewers; use reduce motion if that includes you.

Questions or bugs: Email us.

Sources

1. KaleidoscopeBritannica · britannica.com
2. University of Wisconsin Madison, KaleidoscopeL.R. Ingersoll Wonders of Physics Museum · physics.wisc.edu
3. Scottish Design Icons: KaleidoscopeV&A Dundee · vam.ac.uk
4. Photosensitive epilepsyEpilepsy Society · epilepsysociety.org.uk