Phenakistoscope – The Early Form of Animation

The phenakistoscope is just like magic! It is an optical device that creates an illusion of motion, using a simple principle of how human brain perceives images, the persistence of vision.

The phenakistoscope is actually very simple design. It uses an open top drum with a sequence of images drawn inner side of the drum. Each image is all in the same distance from the centre of the circle. There are slits on the drum, so that people can look at the images inside while the drum spinning. The slits help the viewer look at one direction, instead of focusing one image on the drum. Then the viewer would be able to see a sequence of according images, a motion picuture.

In the 18^th century, the phenakistoscope got really popular after it came out, especially in Europe. Although the persistence of vision was noticed before the invention of the phenakistoscope, this device was really influential at that time, because it was this device that physically showed the theories involved for the first time. The phenakiZoetrope had been an inspiration possibly even for the zoetrope, a more advanced version invented by William George Horner.

Yes, nowadays when we see this device, the persistence of vision seems so natural for us. I don’t think anybody would have a very strong reaction when they see this device. Nonetheless, the contribution of the phenakistoscope should not be neglected, because no matter how technologically evolved cinema is nowadays, for example 3D cinema and IMAX, motion picture is still based on this very fundamental principle that the phenakistoscope presented to the world as the first example. I would even say this piece of device is the early form of animation.