A couple of months ago we received an order for another large-scale installation with Infinity Mirrors – Infinity Mirror Crystal. For the past few years we’ve already made several decorations with this technology. The story began with Infinity Mirror Dodecahedron Wall and Infinity Mirror Dodecahedron Cloud. After that the team has decided to enlarge the scale and make a giant human-sized light-up Dodecahedron you can dance inside.
This blog post from our “How We Did It” series takes you behind the scenes of the process of making a custom Human-Sized LED Infinity Mirror Crystal.
Custom Order
We took previous Infinity Mirror projects as the basis and made required adjustments. The shape of an installation was changed from a dodecahedron to a crystal, but it still needed to be human-sized.
The new Infinity Mirror Crystal Installation was to fulfill the following specifications:
- The Infinity Mirror construction needed to include small wheels to move it freely from one place to another inside an art space.
- It must be human-sized so that a person of an average height could fit inside to pose for photos/videos or even dance.
- The construction needed to have the size that could move through the 150-155 cm doorway.
Rendering and Selecting Materials and Technologies
The creation process started with rendering the idea of the Infinity Mirror Crystal to see how it would look including the look with a person inside.
Materials and technologies repeated the project of the Giant Infinity Mirror Dodecahedron with some changes.
The difference between the Infinity Mirror Dodecahedron and the Infinity Mirror Crystal was not only in the form, but also in fastenings used to attach the profile – they were 3D printed for the Infinity Crystal, and on the Infinity Mirror Dodecahedron there were bent metal parts.
Materials used for the Infinity Mirror Crystal Installation project:
- EVA foam – for gluing to the top cover of the base, for laying in the profile
- laminated plywood (12 mm)
- plexiglass with mirror coating
- MGTF wire of different thicknesses (1, 0.5, HB black)
- metal and plastic 3D-printed corners – for assembling the base of the crystal
- Shift 50 wheels (8 pcs.) – for free movement in the art space
- power button and power cable
- welded pipes
- double-sided tape, super glue, silicone – for gluing wires (in profile)
- 2 coolers 12 V 120×120 – for installation in the base of the Crystal
- converter from 5V to 12V to blocks – for connecting coolers located at the base of the chip
- plastic fasteners, housing (3D-printed)
- cables (1 16 pin for data, 4 pin for power), shielded cables
- M3x16 screw, bolts
- controllers
- memory cards
- LED strips
- resistors 4.7 kOhm
- modules and boards – main and panel
The main board contents: ESP 32, Arduino nano, Radio HC12, 4 resistors 10kOhm, MAX485 module, 16 connector male, 4 pin male connector
The panel board included: 2 buttons, encoder, OLED display
The remaining equipment, which is mounted on a plexiglass panel:
- NODE MCU expansion board + SD slot
- Mount for an expansion card and for a LAN module
- LAN module
- XLR female-male
- 220V power connector with a button
Technologies and operations used for creation of the Infinity Installation:
- cutting with a miter saw – for aluminum profiles
- trimming laminated plywood parts
- machine cutting of MGTF wires and laser cutting – for laminated plywood, plastic parts and EVA foam
- 3D printing of Infinity Mirror Crystal parts (mounts, frames and other Crystal parts)
- drilling 3D parts and profiles
- controller firmware
- soldering of elements (controllers, power supplies, common wire)
- stripping and tinning wires
- setting up the power supply
- creating/recording light effects to the card
- rolling of mirror film
- gluing the tape to plastic and EVA foam
The Creation and Assembling Process of the LED Infinity Crystal
Creation of the LED Infinity Mirror Installation takes lots of hours and stages of work. Very briefly it can be described in the following way:
- Cutting the profile to size
- Cutting parts made of plastic, EVA foam, plywood and metal
- rolling of mirror film
- Preparation of LED strip
- gluing tape to plastic and EVA foam
- Soldering of controllers, power supplies, common wire
- 3D printing of parts
- Creating/recording effects to the card
- Checking semi-finished products
- Assembly
- Testing
The detailed description and a video of designing human-sized Infinity Mirror installation (Giant Dodecahedron) can be found here:
Assembling of the Infinity Mirror Crystal
We have a detailed instruction on assembling the Infinity Mirror Crystal with pictures and comments that we send with an order of this product.
Briefly the assembling process includes the following steps:
- Place the base on the ground or flat surface.
- Assemble the bottom layer of the frame: insert connectors into profiles, secure the connectors with screws according to numbers on rofiles and on connectors.
- Insert and secure the vertical profiles according to the numbers on the connector.
- Insert the mirror sheet and secure it with a connector and profile.
- Repeat the assembly process for the middle and top levels.
- After assembling previous parts, insert and secure the top connector.
- After completing the assembly, insert LED strips.
- Once you’ve inserted all LED strips, connect the strips to the connectors coming out of the crystal base.
- Insert the power cable into the socket on the control panel and turn on the switch.
- The LED Crystal is ready for use.
The Final Result
With its wide range of effects, Infinity Mirror Crystal can be used as a stand-alone piece of art, a visually striking installation, or the ideal background for taking photos and shooting videos as you can come inside and pose or dance.
Specifications of Infinity Mirror Crystal Installation:
- Number of LEDs: 3238
- LED Density: 144 LEDs per 1 meter
- Dimensions: Height of 2.7 meters (6.6 feet) and width of 1.2 meters (3.2 feet)
- Operating Time: it’s powered by mains, so it can operate for as long as needed
- Power Supply: 3 pieces, 5V, 70 amp
- Operating Mode: stand-alone. Auto-switching and show modes are available. Remote control via 433MHz Remote control with 15 buttons.
- LED Colors: 256,000
- Switching Effects: Using two small buttons (forward/backward) or an external switch.
- Light Effects: Effects are created using any ArtNet Software.
- Instructions for effect creation in Madrix and Etereshop Screen Grabber available.
Conclusion
From the initial concept to the completed work, creating the Infinity Mirror Crystal display was an exhilarating experience. This project also demonstrates our commitment to bringing creative ideas to life and ensuring our clients are satisfied with the outcome. We would love to work with you to transform any original ideas you may have into something truly amazing.
Check out our ‘How We Did It’ blog section to see more examples of custom made costumes ETERESHOP team has designed and produced recently. Contact us if you have any ideas or questions.
