How Can I Create a Mirror Reflection Illusion?

[Hamedi]

TL;DR Summary

I have this closed space with a wall in the right, one on the left and one on the back. It has a ceiling, but the front is empty. I want to use mirrors and lighting to reflect one of the side walls onto the empty space in order to create the illusion that there is a fourth wall which completely closes the space. I should say that there is a wall facing the empty space at a close distance. How do I achieve that?

please be specific about the number of mirrors I have to use and how large they should be and what angles they should be placed at. And how much light and where should I shed. Thank you. I also made a stupid doodle which I thought might help

 

[Baluncore]

Welcome to PF.
The best way to solve this problem is to make a scale model of the room and walls without a roof. I would make it in a cardboard box. You can then place small mirrors in different places to see how it will look from different viewpoints.

 

[sophiecentaur]

to make a scale model

Essential. The OP will learn more in a few minutes of 'play' than in an hour of drawing diagrams. It's time to study how images in mirrors behave. There are a number of rules you can work with.

For instance, the image you see appears to be the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front.

Also the image will be laterally inverted or swapped left to right (hence the expression 'mirror image').

If the mirror is tilted by a given angle, the image will be deflected by twice that angle. So putting the mirror at 45° to the a wall will make the wall appear rotated by 90°.

I found this video. The guy is a bit too much but the way mirrors work is well demonstrated in some of his tricks. A google search with "plane Mirror optics Physics" will give you plenty of helpful stuff.

If you want to produce a better image than what you showed us the do it on paper with a ruler and take a photo, which you can easily insert into a post.

 

[Hamedi]

Welcome to PF.
The best way to solve this problem is to make a scale model of the room and walls without a roof. I would make it in a cardboard box. You can then place small mirrors in different places to see how it will look from different viewpoints.

Thanks. I considered that and nearly did it. But the problem is that when I leave the box open in the front the image is projected outside the box not in stead of the dimension left open. So I think another mirror should be placed facing the opposite wall or on the ceiling, for example. But you're right, I should exmperiment with it.

 

[Hamedi]

Essential. The OP will learn more in a few minutes of 'play' than in an hour of drawing diagrams. It's time to study how images in mirrors behave. There are a number of rules you can work with.

For instance, the image you see appears to be the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front.

Also the image will be laterally inverted or swapped left to right (hence the expression 'mirror image').

If the mirror is tilted by a given angle, the image will be deflected by twice that angle. So putting the mirror at 45° to the a wall will make the wall appear rotated by 90°.

I found this video. The guy is a bit too much but the way mirrors work is well demonstrated in some of his tricks. A google search with "plane Mirror optics Physics" will give you plenty of helpful stuff.

If you want to produce a better image than what you showed us the do it on paper with a ruler and take a photo, which you can easily insert into a post.

Thanks I'll try all that.

 

[sophiecentaur]

But the problem is that when I leave the box open in the front the image is projected outside the box not in stead of the dimension left open.

I'm wondering what you are actually require. A mirror image is not 'projected'. It is 'virtual' and appears behind the plane of the mirror. You will have noticed that when you stand in font of. mirror, your face appears behind the mirror and you will see the wall of the room behind you.

Have you actually got a mirror to experiment with? A very small one will do; from what you say, it seems you haven't done that
In your diagram, you will have to put a large mirror diagonally across the gap between the top of the U and you will see the "facing' wall, directly in front of you. I can't be bothered to draw this but a few seconds of play with a mirror will show you how to do it.

Illusionists still use big mirrors to hide / screen objects behind them