[lawrie]

So, I was thinking of making a haunted mirror prop, and wanted to run it past you all to see if it works.

I am thinking of borrowing one of the kids tablets to play spooky videos on (not decided what yet) mounted inside a picture frame which has 2 way mirror film applied to it I would box in the tablet as best as I could to keep the light out.

The film I can get an A5 sheet of for 99p on ebay and have everything else so would be a really cheap prop.

Do you think this may work. Have seen skme threads that use a similar method but with a flat screen tv instead.

 

[chanel]

I actually did something similar a few years ago. I used a flat screen monitor connected up to a laptop, turned sideways and mounted in a picture frame. I used the Imagineering Magic Mirror puppet (http://www.imagineerieing.com/mirror.html) so I could interact with folks (they explain the whole thing on their website). I used reflective window tint over the front, and just used cardboard (painted black) all around the monitor to to prevent light from coming through. Mounted the whole thing on a door. I'd keep the screen blank so it looked like a regular mirror until a ToT came closer and then start the 'puppet' and talk to them. Effect worked pretty well as long as the ambient lighting is fairly low. I stopped using it after a couple years as crowds increased as it got impractical to try and interact one on one. However the whole 'mirror tint in front of a screen' worked fine. You'd just have to make sure the tablet is bright enough to show up well and the area around it is suffciently blacked out so there's no light bleed-through.

 

[Diaval]

I actually did something similar a few years ago. I used a flat screen monitor connected up to a laptop, turned sideways and mounted in a picture frame. I used the Imagineering Magic Mirror puppet (http://www.imagineerieing.com/mirror.html) so I could interact with folks (they explain the whole thing on their website). I used reflective window tint over the front, and just used cardboard (painted black) all around the monitor to to prevent light from coming through. Mounted the whole thing on a door. I'd keep the screen blank so it looked like a regular mirror until a ToT came closer and then start the 'puppet' and talk to them. Effect worked pretty well as long as the ambient lighting is fairly low. I stopped using it after a couple years as crowds increased as it got impractical to try and interact one on one. However the whole 'mirror tint in front of a screen' worked fine. You'd just have to make sure the tablet is bright enough to show up well and the area around it is suffciently blacked out so there's no light bleed-through.

I did the same thing since 2009, but the last two years I did something different and both years people kept asking about the Magic Mirror. I figured after four years of doing it (in a row) that people would be sick of it, but no. Next year (2016) I am going to go back to the Magic Mirror. I just want to revamp it, so it is easier to set up. My best year for the Magic Mirror was the last time I did it in 2013:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEUooUj5H_c

The 2011 video shows the interaction better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPWdI9w8KsE

I have more videos on my You Tube page.

 

[CDW]

Seems like it would work - the only problem I see is controlling the tablet when it's in the frame. If the frame has its own glass, the touch interface may not work, so you may need to work out some kind of external control, or make the tablet easy to take in and out so you can set it playing and then easily drop it in. If there's no separate frame glass, and you apply the mirror film directly to the tablet, the touch interface might or might not work; metallized film might interfere with the capacitance, but I couldn't say for sure without trying it.

 

[Diaval]

Seems like it would work - the only problem I see is controlling the tablet when it's in the frame. If the frame has its own glass, the touch interface may not work, so you may need to work out some kind of external control, or make the tablet easy to take in and out so you can set it playing and then easily drop it in. If there's no separate frame glass, and you apply the mirror film directly to the tablet, the touch interface might or might not work; metallized film might interfere with the capacitance, but I couldn't say for sure without trying it.

Oh, I would use the tablet just as a visual reference and also the program source. Some tablets have an additional video out (at least I know laptops did) in which a larger monitor would hook up to and THAT would be the actual display the people see. Control would done with Playstation2 controller hooked up to a USB port.

Most tablets have a rear camera so I could set it up in front of a small hole where the tablet would be set up. Thus I can see outside.

So I think it can be done provided that there is an additional video output port on the tablet.

Here I think this has everything I would need:

http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Touch-...4115&sr=8-1&keywords=tablet+with+video+output

I might beat setting up a whole computer and $119 for an 8 core machine. That isn't a bad price. Definitely overkill for the Magic Mirror, but I often play background music too when doing the Magic Mirror. The only variable is using the camera at the same time as I would have to set the display to be able to switch from the camera while keeping the main output as the Magic Mirror.

Something I have to play around with.

Diaval