Even so, I think it would be fascinating to interact with a device that consisted of mirrors, even if was just to experience a delay of a millisecond (or whatever is the minimum amount of time to perceive a delay).
farico, you are exactly right, and that is the point. You just add mirrors to make the distance needed shorter and shorter.
I was just taking the example to a logical absurdity to reason that we could potentially make a small array of millions of mirrors, here on earth, that could see back in time in "real-time" if you pointed it at something.
But as I soon realized, this is basically a video camera =(
If there was some mirror already out there then we could use it like such. If we sent a mirror away at the speed of light for 1000 years (which is faster than we can send a mirror) then 2000 years from now we could look back at the mirror and see the time we sent the mirror away.
Yeah and if you have a memex you could simulate yourself as a mirror at any point in time and see how you may have reacted or perceived the world. Or heck, a Roger Penrose for example.
If only there were a series of mirrors, each N light-years away, you could blast a one-time pad out to the mirror of your choice and then announce the date the reflection is expected to arrive.
I would love to see two parallel mirrors in a scene. I would expect the objects between the mirrors to stay illuminated longer than the other objects and that they would fade out gradually.
When a light wave enters the new time interface and the device changes its optical properties, the signal keeps moving forward in space. However, the signal gets reversed—if it were a spoken word, it would sound as if it were getting played backwards. In contrast, with a conventional reflection, a light or sound wave would travel back at its source but mostly look or sound the same as it did before the reflection.
If I were asked to make such a device, I would build a flexible mirror whose curve could be adjusted by an array of attached screws. I'd fix said mirror to a car, and adjust the screws until the desired curve was reached. I'd then measure the curve and duplicate it in a rigid finished product.
It's actually amazing that it took a physicist/mathematician to think of this thing. I doubt I would have come up with the idea. It goes to show how domain knowledge shapes your perception of the world.
Oooooooh... just thought of something that would be cool, would be if the mirror could detect who is in front of it... say as a bathroom mirror, and display the calendar of the person there... minimal facial recognition, wouldn't be too hard to do.
> But you can use many separate mirrors with artifacts to replicate a perfect mirror
It is theoretically possible, but is it practically so? My argument/usage of the analogy is that it isn't today. That as the analogy says, if we put up 100x small mirrors we just get 100 dull knives and blurry science[0].
That is not the only issue, mirrors don't really work the way one naively imagines. See for example this video [1], mirrors have their appearance between about 10 and 15 minutes into the video. Reality won't match the simple mathematical model even ignoring the corners and having a door is the correct solution in practice.
I think the hardest part of creating a mirror for these other kinds of senses would be the fact that you need to be able to modify the 'reflected medium' in such a way that you can:
1: Determine if the subject is capable of detecting the modification
2: Determine if the subject has detected the modification
3: Have the subject acknowledge that they are the subject of the modification by attempting to correct it.
I guess hearing a crow clear his throat would be an indication of sentience.
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