The Phenakistoscope

The Phenakistoscope was invented in 1831 by Joseph Plateau from Belgium and Simon von Stampfer from Austria. The Phenakistoscope was made up of multiple images around a disc which is then spun around on a stick. The disc is placed in front of a mirror and there are evenly spaced out slits in the disc, these allow the viewer see a reflected images through the slits as an animation. When animation was in such an early stage it was only a privilege for the wealthy and power to view as these where not commonly available. I found the phenakistoscope really interesting mainly because it reminded me of the commonly found gif image that the internet is rife with these days however these were produced nearly 200 years ago.