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Where science meets magic and fun meets education!

Reversing Goggles

AstroMedia
(Code: 379)
4260568975790
1000g
These amazing Reversing Goggles allow you to view the world upside down!
£ 60.00

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We aim to ship within 24 hours

These amazing Reversing Goggles allow you to view the world upside down! The plastic goggles hold two Dove plexiglass prisms, which invert the image. Alternatively, you can adjust the prisms in order to create right-left inversion.

Since the time of Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519) people have wondered about the fact that the images of the world that fall on our retina are upside down, yet we see the world the right way up. Back in the 1890s the American scientist George Stratton conducted an experiment to see what would happen if he viewed the world through an inverting prism. He found that after 4 days, his brain started to compensate, and he could see the world the right way up again.

We are not suggesting that you recreate George Stratton's experiment. However, it is fascinating to wear the upside down googles and try to shake hands with someone, pick up an object, pour water from a jug into a glass, try and write, or find your way around (with someone else there to guide you of course). When we view the world normally, our brain reverses the images on our retina in both the up-down and right-left directions. These prisms reverse the up-down direction only. However if you rotate them by 90 degrees, they will then reverse left-right instead.

The kit includes the lightweight, ventilated plastic housing, two prism holders in MDF (medium density fibreboard), two high quality Dove prisms in lightweight plexiglass giving a 35x20mm view, plus a small file for smoothing edges. A small amount of assembly is required. You will need a protractor in order to measure a right angle and some 2 part adhesive which hardens quickly. Optionally, you can apply some black paint to the prism surfaces which are not needed, which will improve the picture quality slightly. Suggested Age 18+. Made in Germany.

Download the instructions as a pdf

Safety Notice. Wearing these goggles will cause you to lose your normal orientation. Do not make any movements while you are wearing them which could cause you to fall and injure yourself. If you want to examine the effects of inverting your vision, you should wear the goggles for at least an hour. However some people may feel unwell if they wear the goggles for a long time. If this happens, discontinue their use. We probably don't need to say this, but don't drive, drink alcohol or operate heavy machinery while wearing these reversing goggles!
Customer reviews
Shopping Satisfaction
 4/5
The reversing goggles are great fun! However they require a *lot*of assembly: they are really more of a diy goggles kit so people should be prepared to have to spend a bit of time preparing them. It would be good if they were supplied with the epoxy needed to hold the prisms in place, and the enamel paint to cover the open faces. But once they are together they are fun to play with - we will be using tem with psychology and architecture students to teach them first-hand about vision and space.
Kate J.
They do require some assembly. I will have another look at the description to see if we need to make that clearer.

There are issues around selling glue, which I suspect is why the kits do not come with glue already supplied.
www.grand-illusions.com
Shopping Satisfaction
 3/5
Tricky to assemble and glue so that everything lines up and in the end I had to adjust the alignment of one finished prism with tabs of insulation tape to get the vertical alignment correct in the finished product. The view image is also small, but they are efffective and do exactly what they are supposed to do. Just don't expect panoramic vision. I think it would also be worth an extra tenner if they came ready assembled.
Mark W.
Shopping Satisfaction
 5/5
Great glasses to have fun ;-).
Herve.
Shopping Satisfaction
 1/5
They didn't send anything.
Dmitriy V.
Hi

I am very sorry but the Reversing Goggles are currently out of stock. We e-mailed you on March 31st 2021 to let you know.

More stock is on the way, and as soon as it arrives, we will ship your order.

Hendrik Ball.
www.grand-illusions.com
Shopping Satisfaction
 1/5
Have not received.
Heather B.
Sorry. We were out of stock of this item, and as it missed the date for the science fair, we refunded your payment.
www.grand-illusions.com
Shopping Satisfaction
 4/5
Construction was difficult because glue was not included.
Sarah I.
Hi

I understand. However there are regulations around the sale of glue, and proof of age is sometimes required. So the German company who supply this kit have taken the decision not to include glue with the kit.

Hendrik Ball.
www.grand-illusions.com
Shopping Satisfaction
 2/5
99% you would need a glue to fix lens, but there is no glue in the package, so you buy it separately. Manul is the worst I ever seen - you need an academic degree to understand it. Also red gum is not good quality - mine was deformed :(.
Mikhail I.
Shopping Satisfaction
 5/5
Excellent and well made. I am an optical engineer and am very picky. This is well designed and delightful to use.
.
John F.
Shopping Satisfaction
 3/5
The only reason I gave it 3 and not 5 is because the assembly required (which I obviously f***ed up).
To have my clumsy ass glue (not included, and you have to guess what type you need) the prisms to the holes in the cardboard turned out badly for me, now one lens is foggy. But that is completely my fault... still a pre-assembled (at leased pre-glued) would make me give it a 5+ stars.
Ariel b.
Shopping Satisfaction
 4/5
A bit finicky, but alright.
Michael S.
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