Hello,
Due to the great demand how I created the dance show at Makerfaire, I am writing this documentation.
First of all, the principle was used by John Henry Pepper in 1862 on a stage to make a ghost appear.
There are many instructions on the internet on how to use Pepper’s ghost effect. Often people talk about holograms, which is not true. Hologram effect would be more correct.
Long story short. Here is a test recording of the performances in my Holobox. I only changed the music here so as not to get into trouble with YouTube.
The holobox wasn’t really meant for this, but I thought it would be a great eye-catcher.
I have been working with this effect for a long time and have already built a few boxes. But I was never satisfied with the result because the reflection was not perfect. After analysing some professional holodisplays for advertising on the internet, i noticed that the glass was not completely transparent, and therefore there was also a light behind the screen.
I think they use beamsplitter glass as used in teleprompters. However, after I found out the price of this material, it was no longer an option.
After a lot of experimenting with tinting and mirror films, I found the solution at the hardware store. Black tinted transparent plexiglass. I was thrilled.
Here a few designs, I´m working on.
The Single Sided One
My design
I built this box as an experimental object.
With it I can explore the optical effect and improve it for my ideas.
As I said, the effect is best with the black tinted plexiglass, I think.
The file for this box, which is intended for a 10 inch tablet, can be found here. But the size can be adjusted. You could also build one for a 55 inch TV based on this principle.
First Test, with white LED-stripe at the top
The Stage
to make it look cool and to enhance the effect, i built a small stage, which you can find here, in which i installed a led stripe and as a background screen, a 7 inch tablet.
By surrounding the floor of the stage with the light points, a special depth was created that sells the effect better.
The video on the rear display was dimmed so that it did not outshine the dancer.
Stage test to see if the height fits
The Show
I borrowed the dancers from youtube :). You only have to search for “hologram ready”. You will find dancers that you can use. it is important that the background is black.
I just downloaded some of them and created a show with a video editing program. I replaced the original music of the clips with 80/90 dance music and even with charlston. People were fascinated and stood in front of the little box and were thrilled. All this with a trick from the 19th century.
Here is another example of what the show looked like afterwards
I hope you like it. All the plans can be found on my Github https://github.com/awall9999/Holobox-for-10inch
Alain's Projects 