Stereographic projection

Discussion in 'Feature this!' started by henryseg, Dec 12, 2013.

  1. henryseg
    henryseg Well-Known Member
    Stereographic projection is a map from the sphere to the plane: Imagine straight lines going from the north pole of the sphere down onto the plane. Each line hits the sphere in one point and the plane in one point. Stereographic projection maps that point on the sphere to the point on the plane.

    If you put a light source at the north pole of this sculpture (for example, my cellphone light), the rays of light effectively do stereographic projection, and the curves on the sphere cast shadows, mapping them to a straight line grid on the plane.

    Shapeways shop.
    Video.

    inverse_stereo_proj_650.jpg
     
  2. Genghis
    Genghis Member
    Wow ! Very clever indeed. Nice to see how well it works !
    I think there are many other possibilites, maybe with mirrors..
     
  3. seriaforma
    seriaforma Well-Known Member
    Very cool!
     
  4. tomservo
    tomservo Member
    Very cool.
     
  5. SavIsSavvy
    SavIsSavvy Member
    Super cool! Not only did I learn something new, but was mesmerized... we tweeted this today :)
     
  6. henryseg
    henryseg Well-Known Member
  7. henryseg
    henryseg Well-Known Member
  8. DBTops
    DBTops Well-Known Member
    Impressive with the grid shadow, very impressive.