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Ask HN: Tips on making a fake window that displays a live feed of the outside

6 points by thinkloop ↗ HN
I have a dark wall in my apartment with no windows and I would like to simulate some. I would like to install a camera outside that transmits a live feed of the outside to a screen inside to make it seem like a window. Any tips on:

- the camera being uncommonly positioned straight outwards to capture what a window would see

- Camera/lens/wide-angle/etc

- which screens/monitors look and feel most like reality through a window

- any other general tips

Thanks!

10 comments

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bellwether
Interesting idea, hope you find a solution! :)
LarryMade2
I'd experiment - set up a cheap camera in a window and then feed it into a small test wall construction made of cardboard or foam board....

From my views in simulation (using second life) you can get a good effect by putting the display in the back of a shadowbox with the (front) window "frame" being smaller than what is being displayed, so as you walk around you see more of the background revealed from the obscured edges thus making it appear like it's a wide open space, wide angle might also help the effect.

thinkloop
> with the (front) window "frame" being smaller than what is being displayed, so as you walk around you see more of the background revealed from the obscured edges thus making it appear like it's a wide open space

Yes! That parallax type effect when you move around a window is very important for realism - I wonder what's the optimal extra size to have hidden?

byoung2
Is your apartment's management ok with mounting a camera on the outside of the building? Also, why restrict yourself to the view on the other side of the wall? With a screen you can show any view you want, like a white sandy beach or an active volcano. I had an idea 20 years ago for a restaurant with artificial views. Much cheaper than paying for real estate in a location with views, I would get a cheaper location and line the walls floor to ceiling with high definition screens and show any view I want
thinkloop
> Is your apartment's management ok with mounting a camera on the outside of the building?

I'm the president of the hoa but I do have a pending step to confirm everyone is ok with this.

> Also, why restrict yourself to the view on the other side of the wall?

It's a good idea but seems more appropriate for something like a restaurant. When you live with it day-in day-out any imperfection will quickly make the effect look disingenuous and creepy, like clowns with their permanent fake happiness.

Also I want to be able to see what's out there, again to reduce feelings of enclosure/isolation/creepiness - are there murderers plotting my death out there all day!? I have no idea right now.

omar_a1
Edge case, but you may need to think of a way to filter out bugs on the lense, or it might occasionally look like Attack Of the Giant Spiders outside.

Maybe multiple lenses?

thinkloop
Keeping the camera clean is another important issue. Without constant maintenance the effect will only look right at first setup degrading over time. What were you thinking with having multiple lenses, how would that solve some the challenges?
omar_a1
For redundancy. Chances are all the lenses aren't covered in spiders. If you have two, you could select the non-giant spider view, or even write up a quick and dirty script for deciding which camera seems to have the minimum number of giant spiders at any given time, then select accordingly.

...I don't like spiders.

gshdg
The real challenge for the sense of reality with something like this IMO is depth perception. I wonder if there’s something that could be done with microlenses.