BigShinyThing

The DelayMirror originally formed part of a larger design project called the ‘Refashion Lab’, a number of interactive installations aimed at redefining the experience of a fictitious fashion store and presented in Stockholm in 2001.

It records a continuous video stream from a small camera mounted above the ‘mirror’. So far, not so surprising - Showstudio deployed a similiar technique in a Liberty’s shop window a while back (you read about it on Russell Davies’ blog here). However, a computer delays the signal by 3 seconds, and plays back the ongoing stream on a large plasma screen, which is mounted to appear as a traditional mirror.

According to Smart Studio, a Swedish collective who created it:

“The original intention was of offer the visitor an unusual perspective on his own person, a viewpoint that is continuously changing, but not necessarily predictable. It would have been the next best thing to having a pair of eyes on your back. However, the real power of the installation unfolded when it was released for public consumption, from children to pensioners.

The effect of being trapped in the 3 second continuum, an unstoppable record of past moments, had an immense impact on each visitor. Young children loved the installation, using it almost like a playground, with an endless curiousity. That curiousity was displaced by suspicion and giggling with the teenagers. Turned to the age of puberty, a shift in the self-image obviously takes place that it extremely challenged by the DelayMirror. Adults were split into different types, those who obviously felt intrigued and self-confident, and those who instantly ran away. And of course actors abusing the piece as an experimental stage to produce their next persona.”

DelayMirrors are currently installed in NYC Prada and the ICA, London where the above picture was taken. Nice photo of me looking in my camera at the photo that I’ve just taken of myself in the mirror 3 seconds ago.