Can One-Way Glass Be Made With Projected Light?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of creating a one-way glass effect using projected light. Participants explore various methods and ideas related to the interaction between light and glass, with a focus on achieving a visual effect where only one side can see the reflection while the other side remains obscured. The scope includes theoretical and conceptual considerations, as well as practical applications.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that the properties of the glass itself are crucial for achieving a one-way effect, rather than relying solely on the light.
  • One participant proposes moving the light source to the opposite side of the glass as a potential solution.
  • Another participant discusses the concept of tinted glass and its relation to the visibility from both sides.
  • There are mentions of the necessity for the observer side to be dimmer than the observed side for a one-way effect to work effectively.
  • Some participants reference the use of reflective coatings and the principles behind one-way mirrors.
  • One participant introduces the idea of using a grid of small holes in advertising to create a visibility effect, suggesting it could be adapted for the OP's needs.
  • There is a discussion about the limitations of light behavior and how it relates to the properties of glass.
  • Several participants express confusion over the original request and seek clarification on the OP's end goal.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on how to achieve the desired effect, with multiple competing views and interpretations of the problem remaining throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Some limitations include the unclear constraints of the OP's request and the varying interpretations of what constitutes a one-way effect. The discussion also touches on the technical aspects of light behavior and glass properties without resolving these complexities.

madou0016
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Hello, I'm wondering if you can inform me about that kind of light which be projected on a glass and it helps us to see it's reflection only for the viewer and not for anyone the other side .
all proposals and methods are welcome.
even if it is necessary for the light to pass on a chemical substance.
thank you cordially
Mehdi from the National School of Marine Sciences in Algeria
 

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It's not up to the light, it's up to the glass. One-way glass has been around for decades.
 
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phinds said:
It's not up to the light, it's up to the glass. One-way glass has been around for decades.
thanks for your answer, but i am looking for a solution for the light.
and One-way glass you can not see the other side
 
madou0016 said:
thanks for your answer, but i am looking for a solution for the light.
and One-way glass you can not see the other side
? One-way glass does exactly what your picture shows.
 
phinds said:
? One-way glass does exactly what your picture shows.
Weeeelllll, it does exactly the opposite of what his diagram shows.

With one-way glass, the person in darkness can see the person in the lit room. Whereas the person in the lit room can't see the person in darkness.
 
madou0016 said:
Hello, I'm wondering if you can inform me about that kind of light which be projected on a glass and it helps us to see it's reflection only for the viewer and not for anyone the other side .
Madou, if you move the light to the opposite side of the glass, without changing anything else, you have your solution.
one way glass.png
 
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DaveC426913 said:
Weeeelllll, it does exactly the opposite of what his diagram shows.
Good catch, Dave. I was ignoring where the light is because I knew the solution couldn't be with the light.
 
DaveC426913 said:
Madou, if you move the light to the opposite side of the glass, without changing anything else, you have your solution.
thank you for your answer, the final result that I want to get it is like a stained glass just in projecton a light.
if you see what I want!
like this ! but only with light
 

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madou0016 said:
thank you for your answer, the final result that I want to get it is like a stained glass just in projecton a light.
if you see what I want!
like this ! but only with light
This is just tinted glass (not what "stained glass" normally means, but not too different), and the view from the inside is partially obstructed by the glass. Again, the solution is with the glass, not with the light.
 
  • #10
Diagram added in post 6, for clarity.
 
  • #11
Window tinting?
 
  • #12
Bystander said:
Window tinting?
Yes , but only on projecting light
 
  • #13
madou0016 said:
Yes , but only on projecting light
I have no idea what you are talking about. Tinted windows are tinted regardless of light, unless you are talking about the kind of light that is used in glasses (spectacles) so that they slowly turn dark when you go out in the sunlight. In either case, the solution is in the glass, not the light and the visibility is the same from both sides
 
  • #14
Glass of any kind is no truly ‘one way’. It will let the same fraction through from either direction. Ant one way system relies on the Observer side being dimmer than the place he is looking at. The performance is always better if the Observed Side of the glass has stripes of mirror. This increases the contrast between the bright shiny strips and the dark gaps as seen from the Observed side.
 
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  • #15
sophiecentaur said:
Glass of any kind is no truly ‘one way’. It will let the same fraction through from either direction. Ant one way system relies on the Observer side being dimmer than the place he is looking at. The performance is always better if the Observed Side of the glass has stripes of mirror. This increases the contrast between the bright shiny strips and the dark gaps as seen from the Observed side.
Actually, it's not normally done in strips. Here's from wiki:
A one-way mirror has a reflective coating applied in a very thin, sparse layer -- so thin that it's called a half-silvered surface. ... The room in which the glass looks like a mirror is kept very brightly lit, so that there is plenty of light to reflect back from the mirror's surface
 
  • #16
phinds said:
Actually, it's not normally done in strips. Here's from wiki:
The simplest example (that was used in shops and offices) used quite wide silvered strips which I suspect was a modified regular mirror. The lowest tech you could imagine and it did the job.
Other technologies (better) are available for Physicists.
 
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  • #17
sophiecentaur said:
The simplest example (that was used in shops and offices) used quite wide silvered strips which I suspect was a modified regular mirror. The lowest tech you could imagine and it did the job.
Interesting. I've never seen one of those. A couple of the stores I worked in parttime when I was young had the kind wiki talks about and of course all the cop shows have that kind as well.
 
  • #18
phinds said:
Interesting. I've never seen one of those. A couple of the stores I worked in parttime when I was young had the kind wiki talks about and of course all the cop shows have that kind as well.
The strips(iirc) perhaps had a pitch of 15cm. Not too coarse to spot and recognize a customer coming into the shop and, of course, the local glazier could make up a replacement to any size.

EDIT: that's 15mm and not 15cm. Durrr!
 
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  • #19
Hmm -- what kind of light . . . oh, yes, one or more of the impossible kinds . . .

244739


Merci, Monsieur Magritte.
 
  • #20
sysprog said:
Hmm -- what kind of light . . . oh, yes, one or more of the impossible kinds . . .
? What on Earth does that image have to do with this thread?
 
  • #21
phinds said:
? What on Earth does that image have to do with this thread?
As with many, the thread has a mind of its own. The agenda was never really declared.
 
  • #22
sophiecentaur said:
As with many, the thread has a mind of its own. The agenda was never really declared.
Well, c'est la vie
off topic post small.jpg
 
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  • #23
phinds said:
? What on Earth does that image have to do with this thread?
What does the "kind of light" have to do with the transparencies and reflectivities of a window pane? The image was by me intended as a reductio ad absurdum in support of the position already expressed by you; it's a fantasy image in which light behaves inconsistently in a manner depending on viewer attention viewpoint. How can it be daytime in the sky while it's night-time on the ground in what is otherwise approximately the same location?
 
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  • #25
Please, let's try to focus on helping the OP.
 
  • #26
anorlunda said:
Please, let's try to focus on helping the OP.
Thanks for the gentle tempering. I think the OP was satisfied with the responses, and I think that the response of @DaveE was especially informative and on-point, as it pointed to something that elucidates principles which should adequately address the inquiry. For my part I'll try to contain any over-indulgence toward which I might over-obtend.
 
  • #27
I have a question for the OP for clarification of the end goal:

It is necessary that the light be where it is (i.e. on the "I can see" side of the glass), or is that your preconception of how it would work?

In other words, eliminate all the constraints you can , and just tell us only what result you want to achieve.
 
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  • #28
Have you seen the clever ads in eg bus windows and rear of taxis where the bold external ad has a grid of small holes ? Back of ad is a neutral gray, does not catch the eye, allows 'legal' visibility outbound. The bold exterior does so catch the eye, so blocks view in-bound.

Turned about, this could work for OP...

PS: check out 'Peppers Ghost' illusion and its kin...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper's_ghost
 
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  • #29
Nik_2213 said:
Have you seen the clever ads in eg bus windows and rear of taxis where the bold external ad has a grid of small holes ? Back of ad is a neutral gray, does not catch the eye, allows 'legal' visibility outbound. The bold exterior does so catch the eye, so blocks view in-bound.

Turned about, this could work for OP...
Except it operates on the same principle as the one-way glass solution we've been describing.
It requires that the blocking side be well-lit, and the see-through side be in reduced light.
 
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  • #30
sysprog said:
over-obtend.
Now that's a word we don't often come across. Literacy is not yet dead on PF.
More please. :smile:
 
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