Persistence of vision
The video shows a few examples of thaumatrope – the first and the simplest optical device that uses persistence of vision as the basic principle of its operation. Persistence of vision is the ability of human eye “to store” afterimage in thought for
fraction of a second after it was seen. When you watch the video you see a circle with a distinct image on each side. When the circle is twisted quickly, you see two images blend together in one because your brain “remembers” each image you see and when you see the second image your brain still remembers the first one, which in turn blends two of them together.
Persistence of vision was first discovered in 1820th. It became principle for creating various optical devices. “Linking them all was the notion that perception was not instantaneous, and the notion of a disjunction between eye and object.” (Crary 104) Thaumatrope is the easiest way to consciously experience persistence of vision. “Consciously” because it breaks the persistence of vision into separate details at a slower pace and lets you understand the mechanics of it. However, nowadays we experience persistence of vision constantly without realization that persistence of vision is actually the principle behind all motion pictures.
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