Trippy device
February 14, 2013 7:49 AM Subscribe
So years and years and years ago at some hippie festival or other there was a guy hawking these goggle things. The gimmick was this: you'd close your eyes, look towards the sun or other bright light, and blow into a little tube that would spin fans built into the eyepieces which caused a strobe effect which was had a surprisingly psychedelic effect.
Anybody else remember these? Do they still exist? What are they called? Are they for sale anywhere online? Relevant search terms have been taken over by a pricey Nike product which is not at all what I'm looking for.
Yes, I do in fact feel a little bit ridiculous about asking this question.
Yes, I do in fact feel a little bit ridiculous about asking this question.
Best answer: A while ago Make Magazine had instructions on building something very similar, except they use LEDs for the strobing. They called them the Brain Machine or Trip Glasses. They sell a kit.
posted by zsazsa at 7:55 AM on February 14, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by zsazsa at 7:55 AM on February 14, 2013 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: But you see if I can find this then I won't need the brown acid...
zsazsa is on the right track, though I wonder if LEDs would be bright enough to cause the same effect... so I'll expand the question: anyone who's used that kit or similar, are the LEDs bright enough to cause the same effect?
posted by ook at 8:09 AM on February 14, 2013
zsazsa is on the right track, though I wonder if LEDs would be bright enough to cause the same effect... so I'll expand the question: anyone who's used that kit or similar, are the LEDs bright enough to cause the same effect?
posted by ook at 8:09 AM on February 14, 2013
Best answer: This sounds like a variation of the Dream Machine.
posted by dortmunder at 8:17 AM on February 14, 2013
posted by dortmunder at 8:17 AM on February 14, 2013
Best answer: Solar Meditation Bow by Palu Rainbow Song.
posted by Lorin at 8:23 AM on February 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Lorin at 8:23 AM on February 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I have used the ones sold by Make Magazine, but not the ones you describe, so I can't compare their effects, but I totally saw shapes and colors and patterns with the ones I tried. Also, I felt altered in a similar way to hypnosis or other trance states. It was pretty great.
posted by spindrifter at 8:27 AM on February 14, 2013
posted by spindrifter at 8:27 AM on February 14, 2013
Response by poster: Awesome; I'm sold. Bonus points to Lorin (and the awesomely bearded Mr. Song) for the low-tech version.
posted by ook at 8:40 AM on February 14, 2013
posted by ook at 8:40 AM on February 14, 2013
I owned one of those. It was purple plastic. Probably ordered it out of the back of a magazine in the 90's, I used to use it while sitting in my parent's pool on bright sunny days, it worked fairly well.
I feel certain if I could remember the exact name of the thing it'd be possible to find one on eBay, or maybe even still for sale new. "Daytripper" sounds right but brings up too many unrelated results in Google.
No idea what happened to it, I didn't use it a whole lot but it worked so I wouldn't have thrown it away. It was a thick, rigid plastic so it may have cracked at some point.
posted by NoAccount at 10:13 AM on February 14, 2013
I feel certain if I could remember the exact name of the thing it'd be possible to find one on eBay, or maybe even still for sale new. "Daytripper" sounds right but brings up too many unrelated results in Google.
No idea what happened to it, I didn't use it a whole lot but it worked so I wouldn't have thrown it away. It was a thick, rigid plastic so it may have cracked at some point.
posted by NoAccount at 10:13 AM on February 14, 2013
Best answer: anyone who's used that kit or similar, are the LEDs bright enough to cause the same effect?
Oh yes. Definitely. Modern LEDs put out a ton of light.
posted by Mars Saxman at 12:48 PM on February 14, 2013
Oh yes. Definitely. Modern LEDs put out a ton of light.
posted by Mars Saxman at 12:48 PM on February 14, 2013
Heh. No idea as to the product's name, but I do recall those -- used to see them at Dead shows back in the late 80's/early 90's. The ones I remember were sized and shaped like opaque swimmers' face masks. Good times, good times...
posted by mosk at 12:58 PM on February 14, 2013
posted by mosk at 12:58 PM on February 14, 2013
We called these things "LSD-simulators" in the mid 90s.
posted by fondle at 5:00 AM on February 15, 2013
posted by fondle at 5:00 AM on February 15, 2013
If you have an Android device, you can get the same effect (especially similar to the Make magazine project, mentioned above) with Trip Glasses, free on the Play Store at:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sk.gk2.tripglasses
I'd guess there is something for the iPhone also.
posted by mbarryf at 7:33 AM on February 15, 2013
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sk.gk2.tripglasses
I'd guess there is something for the iPhone also.
posted by mbarryf at 7:33 AM on February 15, 2013
Best answer: Followup: I was all set to buy the kit from the Maker Store, but they turn out to charge insultingly high shipping rates -- srsly folks $12.50 for postal delivery? -- so I wound up buying what is clearly the exact same thing preassembled from "tripglasses.com" (which domain name I feel kind of dumb for not having stumbled on in the first place.)
They work.
posted by ook at 8:15 AM on March 14, 2013
They work.
posted by ook at 8:15 AM on March 14, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
Is this close to what you're looking for?
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:53 AM on February 14, 2013