Which optical toy, or toys, utilized a mirror to view the animated image?

• A. Zoetrope
• B. Thaumatrope
• C. Camera Obscura
• D. Phenakistoscope and Praxinoscope

Answer: (D)

Mirrors were used to view moving pictures in early optical toys, notably in the phenakistoscope and the praxinoscope. The phenakistoscope spins a disk with sequential drawings and the viewer looks at the disk’s reflection in a mirror, so the reflected images appear in motion as a continuous sequence. The praxinoscope improves on this by placing a ring of mirrors inside a cylinder; as the pictures on the inner wall are reflected, the viewer gazes into the center and sees a bright, steady animation.

The other devices don’t rely on a viewing mirror: the zoetrope uses slits and direct viewing of the images, the thaumatrope shows two pictures flipping when spun, and the camera obscura projects an external scene without animation or a mirror-based viewing mechanism.