Starting in the early 1800's we saw a variety of mechanical devices
that used rows of images printed on strips or disks of paper to create
the illusion of motion. These were the first animation devices.
The
phenakistoscope
was basically a spinning disk of images that you viewed through a
narrow slit to trick your brain to see a sequence of images instead of a
continuous blur.
The
praxinoscope used mirrors to achieve the same result — reflected pictures on the inside of a spinning cylinder appeared as a moving picture.
The Praxinoscope
The
zoetrope combined these concepts, with a spinning cylinder and narrow slits you'd look through to see the "moving" image.
There's also the poor man's version, the
flip book, which was actually invented around the same time as these other contraptions.
Whether it was a spinning disk or a series of mirrors, the end result
was actually pretty similar to the GIFs we know today — looping images
that play cognitive tricks to allow us to see motion.
The technique of the phenakistoscope and other devices hasn't
dissapeared entirely, even if it's been replaced by more sophisticated,
digital forms.
https://www.propublica.org/nerds/item/on-repeat-how-to-use-loops-to-explain-anything
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