Anyone who has looked at themselves in a mirror has experienced seeing an image of themselves that appears to be located behind the mirror. Those that have looked in a curved mirror may even have noticed that the apparent location of their reflection changes depending on where they look in the mirror (along with their shape). Images that appear behind a mirror are known as virtual images. Reflected Reality™ uses these virtual images and the ways in which the human body perceives the depth of these images to create an actual sense of three dimensions (see figure below).

Human beings have evolved to not only use multiple depth cues to perceive depth, but to rely on different depth cues depending on how far away an object appears. For objects that are very close to us (within a few feet), human beings perceive depth primarily through physiological cues. For objects very far from us (more than approximately 100 ft.), we perceive depth primarily through psychological cues. At intermediary distances, we use a mixture of the two types of depth cues to determine depth.

When immersive displays are placed within a few feet from us, the imagery tends to look very flat and two dimensional, as we are using physical depth cues to determine this fairly accurately (i.e. the imagery does not look or feel realistic). By using mirrors, Station IX™ lets viewers feel like they’re viewing objects at an accurate distance. Curved mirrors cause virtual images’ depth to vary depending on the viewer’s position relative to the mirror, which allows the images to be three dimensional and realistic.

The image below presents this effect.