Mathematician Andrew Hicks uses math to design mirrors. Not just any mirrors: His panoramic mirror reflects 360 degrees without any distortion; his perspective-rectifying mirror gives a wide-angle view without distortion, and was designed to help a stair-climbing robot navigate steps; and his "true mirror" reflects images without flipping them around. Click here to see a gallery of his work.

Below is my own experience with a "true mirror," taken from my old blog way back in '03:

"I saw the weirdest thing with Ezra," says Annie. "Down on 1st [Avenue]. We saw a True Mirror. It shows you what you really look like."

"What's a True Mirror?" asks Shady.

Though I've never actually seen one, I've heard of True Mirrors. "It's like this," I say. "Every time you look in a mirror, the image of you that you see, is not what other people see. You know what I mean? Like the part in your hair is on the other side."

"So?" says Mike.

"Well it goes beyond that. Most people, their faces are not truly symmetrical. Take me, I got one eye that's bigger than the other if you look close. My bigger eye is on the left, but in a mirror I see it on the right. So the reflection of you that you're accustomed to, and the You that other people see are two very different things."

[After traipsing down to the store] I'm the first person to look into the thing, and it's jarring. The initially weird thing is that you raise your right hand and see your reflection raise its left. After that, as you look closer you see a face that looks very similar to yours, but something is definitely...off. The eyes are all wrong. Birthmark on the wrong side. Jawline not the shape you remember it.

"S'f*cking creepy," I say, backing up.

The others take turns looking into it, and narcissistic though it sounds, it becomes sort of mesmerizing. You see this person who looks so, so much like you and yet they are not the person you know. An almost exact replica, but one sure to be sniffed out by an expert. A near-perfect doppleganger who could charm his way into your friends' kitchen, but an accidental cut while making a sandwich would reveal the green alien's blood within.

Before we leave I take one last look in the mirror. It's depressing enough seeing my normal reflection--eyes not as bright as they once were, little lines forming where the skin was once smooth--but something about the True Mirror draws it into sharp relief. It's the visual version of hearing a recording of your voice and recoiling at the unfamiliar tone.

via new scientist/neatorama/hipstomp