David Danko
November 30, 2000

There is so much randomness in our environment that it's hard to find objects that are simple enough to be fully recallable from memory. If an environment that was perfectly recallable from one's memory could be created, then it would be possible to revisit the environment though dream without any less sense of reality.

Sometimes people think they read road signs in their dreams. Road signs are very complex objects for those who can't read them (especially if they've never seen Latin characters). For those who can read, a sign can be recorded into memory as a concept and a typography style. The sign reader can easily recall a very life-like interpretation of sign even if not all the details are complete.

Kaleidoscope pictures may be just as readable as signs. All it takes to accurately recall a kaleidoscopic image is just one petal. To make the task of petal memorization easier this kaleidoscope VRML project provides the option to kaleidoscope any picture. Manipulations of images familiar to the user can draw into lots of pre-memorized information. Just think of how well you know the pictures on the walls of your house, or for that matter the subjects of the pictures.

Inspirations:

Baudrillard, Jean. Simulations, New York, Semiotext(e), Inc., Columbia University, 1983.

Hollands, Robin. The Virtual Reality Homebrewer's Handbook. West Suxxex, England:1996.

Erik Spiekermann & E.M. Gringer. Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works. Mountain View, California, Adobe Press: 1993.

The "Kaleido" Program (MS-DOS version)
Dr. Zvi Har'El rl@math.technion.ac.il
Department of Mathematics Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
The VRML output of tessellated polyhedra

The George Eastman House Stereo Views
Over 1000 interesting stereograms from the 19th Century to after WWI

JASC's Paint Shop Pro Kaleidoscope Effect