The idea: Mirage is a mystical labyrinth that depicts the eternity of the world. Being installed in a suitcase, it represents the search for openness, curiosity, and a sense of adventure that one seeks through travelling around the world. In an abstract manner the simulation presents the travel mindset and a portrayal of the answers residing within ourselves. The endless stairs represent the infinite world and being constructed of mirrors they reflects the state of our own minds. We will use smoke and lighting to enhance the experience of our simulated world.

The simulation – not fully representative

We began our project looking for inspiration in certain themes, landing upon mirrors, mazes, and changing staircases (like in Hogwarts). We wanted to create a world inside our suitcase that it was possible to get lost within.

Pulling from images like this, we decided it would look really cool to set up a mirror maze on top of the moving motors, and wanted to use light from different angles to change the effects that the reflections would have within the suitcase.

In making the simulation, we struggled with making the physics work for objects we designed ourselves (hence, the staircase sitting outside just for show) – so we made do with Webots parts for the time being. The idea represented in the video is that each motor will be connected to a set of “mirrors” (fabricating this with real mirrors might get tough, so likely just reflective materials) or a moving staircase. This means that once programmed, the staircases and mirror mazes might meet, and as shown by the ball falling into the maze on the ramps, something might be able to “navigate” the world we create.

We plan to work a lot in this next week to make our simulation and our real fabrication much closer to our original concept. We began some of our CAD designs that we wish to include: