Thaumatrope

The Thaumatrope is an optical toy that uses what has been called persistence of vision. Persistence of vision has been called a myth - read about the controversy here.)

Ruth Hayes, an independent animator and professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, tells how to make your own thaumatrope here.

A Thaumatrope Simulator.



The bird in the cage is a classic Thaumatrope design. What other pairs of images would be well suited to this device? Make a Thaumatrope, photograph each side, and post it below in the comments.