Important COVID-19 Updates: ACCHaoS is not conducting school visits for the foreseeable future. Please check back for updates about when we will be scheduling events again.

Shape Shifter

A cylinder sits in a 3-sided mirror box
An optical illusion known as the "ambiguous cylinder"

From one perspective, the cylinder appears circular, but from another perspective, the cylinder appears to be square. In fact it is neither.

Materials

  • this 3D-printable file, or something similar
  • 3D printer
  • 3 small mirrors, about 12.5 cm or 5 inches on a side (optional)

Construction Instructions

Download the file and 3D print it. Or, you can search "ambiguous cylinder illusion 3D print" on the internet to look for other 3D-printable models.

The illusion will work as is, but if you want to view the model from multiple angles at the same time, you can make a little mirror box. Take 3 small square mirrors and hot glue their edges to make three sides of a box, then reinforce the glued edges with duct tape on the back. Put a thin strip of duct tape along the exposed edges, as a safety measure.