Information technology's a widely held belief that the Old Masters were exactly that: masters, such as da Vinci and Vermeer, who motley in flawlessly precise freehand. There are savants with becalm men, no question. But thither are other techniques to consider, which David Hockney (an artist of our age who also pioneered iPad artistic creation), expounds happening in Esoteric Cognition: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Gaga Masters, in which atomic number 2 lays out exactly how European painters victimized mirrors and lenses to create their compositionally perfect portraits.

That surprised Golan Heights Levin, an fundamental interaction designer and a tech performance artist of sorts–and nonpareil of Fast Company's people shaping the future of design in 2012. Wherefore? "Mostly because it seemed suchlike a truth, simply none of my colleagues talked nearly IT," helium tells Co.Design. Levin teaches at Dale Carnegie Mellon and also sits connected the admission staff. "All these students resuscitate me from high, and they think art equals painting, and painting equals realistic painting. They're organism set up to believe they motive superhuman powers."

Pablo Garcia, an art prof at the Civilis of the Art Institute in Michigan, has been hip the (disputable) idea for any years and has amassed an extensive collection of optics. He offered to let Levin taste out a camera lucida, one of the tools Hockney says the Echt Masters accustomed capture their subjects more realistically. Levin idolized it, and the duo decided to make a 21st-century edition.


A camera lucida is a simple machine: A small prism reflects the persona of the subject so the viewer can insure their own hand, advantageous the image, and trace a more hi-fi rendering onto the theme. The effect ISN't far slay from the Google Glass video demos we've been seeing. There are layers of images on hand in your blood line of good deal–for you to use of goods and services in some sharp way. Only the only lucidas still available are collectibles, and run a price tag north of $300–more than Levin and Garcia believed college students would pay. As IT turns out, manufacturing merely several lucidas costs $20,000, but each additive optical prism costs just pennies.

Which is wherefore the NeoLucida sells for $30. Information technology's pluperfect for Kickstarter. Since launching the product on May 8, Levin and Garcia are already hearing from people who missed out on the first 2,500 they made available. Merely unlike most other romp Kickstarter hits, this isn't–or wasn't–supposed to be a business. "This gross matter is a performance, or an intervention, or just artwork," Levin says. Luckily, the project had enough demand and interest so that just 2 years after going live, Levin and Garcia habitual that in that respect will be an limitless second production run, conducted by master manufacturers.

The effects of acquiring the NeoLucidas out into the food market should be interesting. Animators, filmmakers, and diagram-mappers are all groups that Levin and Garcia mention as logical customers. Because for all the advancements we get with graphic illustration and photography, people still want roll up their sleeves and soak up like an long-ago master.

The project has already raised about $400,000, far beyond its goal of $15,000. Support the campaign here.