If you're a fan mind-bending illusions, then chances are you're familiar with Rubin's vase. It incorporates the facial profiles of two people, which can be seen in the negative space along either of its sides. Should you like the idea of owning such a vase, but that features the profiles of you and people you know – well, that would be the fahz.
The first fahz was created by Brooklyn-based architect and computational designer Nicholas Desbiens, as a Mother's Day gift for his wife, landscape architect Martha Desbiens. Along with their profiles, it also features the profiles of their two children. Only two of the profiles are discernible at a time, as the fahz is viewed from different angles.
Now, Nick and Martha hope to makes personalized fahzes for paying clients.
To create one of the vases, they start with side-on photos of the faces to be incorporated. Without getting into too much technical detail, the profiles of those faces are converted into 3D computer models, which are then used to determine the shape of the final 3D-printed vase.
When that vase is rotated, the profiles of the different faces will be visible in the empty space to either side of it, morphing into one another as it turns.
The couple are now raising funds on Kickstarter to buy their own 3D printer, which should be more economical than getting a third party to do the printing. Pledge levels run from US$30 for a 3-inch (76-mm)-tall fahz featuring one or two profiles, to $100 for a 5-inch (127-mm) model incorporating up to 16. Assuming that funding is successful, the vases should be shipped in May.
The fahz can be seen morphing between faces, in the pitch video below.
Source: Kickstarter
