Animation Exhibits

HUMAN PERCEPTION - Above is a section of an exhibit on human perception at the St. Louis Science Center showing 3 early examples of animation devices: Zoetrope, Praxinoscope and Phenakistiscope. See details below.

St. Louis Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

THE CLASSIC ZOETROPE - in which figures are drawn on a strip inside and the viewer looks through the slots of the spinning cylinder. Levy Design has made many zoetropes for different clients, each slightly different in design to fit the overall design of the environment in which it was placed. You will encounter different styles in the following pictures.

St. Louis Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

PRAXINOSCOPE - is another version of the classic Zoetrope above, but instead of looking across at the drawings, the observer looks at the reflected images. This refinement allows a more crisp separation of the images. To the right and above the mirror version is a Phenakistiscope. Similar in principle to the Praxinoscope, except that the images are drawn on the back of the disk and are reflected from a flat mirror. The spinning disk has little slots on the periphery through which the viewer looks at the drawings.

St. Louis Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

HANDS-ON ZOETROPE - allowing the visitor to change the drawings and also to create his own by drawing a sequence on blank cards that are inserted into slots of the Zoetrope. Part of an exhibit on sensory perception for the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, USA.

ANIMATION DISPLAY - Display island for the lobby of Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon USA showing "California Raisins".

SOLID OBJECT ZOETROPE - This "Solid" version of a Zoetrope contains 24 identical solid objects each rotated 1/24 of a turn. When the observer looks through the spinning drum, the solid object inside looks animated and gives the impression of a spinning object around itself.

Part of an exhibit on sensory perception for the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, USA.

CARD STEREOTROPE - Reminiscent to an old viewer in a Nickelodeon parlor, turning the handle of this apparatus, shows a sequence of 60 images in succession creating the sensation of a moving scene. The difference of course is that this sequence features 60 stereocards and the person viewing it can see a short 3D movie. Part of an exhibit on sensory perception for the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, USA.

SLIDE STEREOTROPE - Just as in the movies, the fast presentation of still images in sequence produces the sensation of motion - and in this case it's not only moving, but also in 3D. For details on this device, see another version produced for the Science Center in Chile. This Stereotrope was produced for the Science Museum in Lahore, Pakistan. See a detailed article about the Stereotrope.

All exhibits on this page were designed and produced at Levy Design Studios in Portland, Oregon USA.

ANIMATION EXHIBITS