Die Umkehrbrille

The image that the eye lens throws onto our retina is inverted, as Leonardo da Vinci discovered 500 years ago. But then how do we still see a 'real', non-inverted upright image?

What is sight actually?

The American psychologist George Stratton, who experimented with erecting prisms in 1896 for the first time, also worked on a scientific answer to this question. He wanted to know if the visual process could adapt to an inverted image - so that the world would look 'normal' again to the observer.

How long will it take for me to be able to pour water back into a glass or to shake hands with someone? Or to read a text? Or to write something? You can try this now for yourself.

AstroMedia inverting goggles employ high-quality acrylic glass Dove prisms, in which the image is inverted via total internal reflection. They make use of the entire field of view, in contrast to the rectangular prisms normally used. The prisms can pushed up out of the line of sight, so that normal sight can be quickly restored at any time.

Assembly is easy, just glue the prisms into their brackets and insert them into the frame.

Equipment - 1 pair of ventilated, light-tight plastic goggles, also suitable for spectacle wearers, 2 OPTIMedia PMMA Dove prisms, 2 MDF Ø50mm prism holders, 2 ring nuts, 1 sanding file.