Strange Video, "Switchboard"

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MrAl
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Strange Video, "Switchboard"

Post by MrAl »

Hi there,


Take a quick look at this video and see if you can figure out
what these guys are trying to prove. Thanks.

http://www.alakazam.co.uk/demos/SWITCHBOARD_NEW.wmv
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
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Bob Scott
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Post by Bob Scott »

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jollyrgr
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Post by jollyrgr »

WARNING: MY POST CONTAINS SPOILERS! If you like "magic" please do not read my post!






Watch carefully. The socket furthest from us is always the first to be lit. Followed by the next closest one and so on. From the OBSERVER position, the right bulb is always lit first, followed by one right next to it and so on and only the order of which switchis turned on picks the sequence. I'm unsure of how it is reset when he is randomly flipping switches after "programming" them but I believe this is reset by turning off ALL the switches for a certain period of time. In other words once he matches the color of the switch to the bulb it will "reset" if all switches are turned off for a certain amout of time.
No trees were harmed in the creation of this message. But billions of electrons, photons, and electromagnetic waves were terribly inconvenienced!
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GoingFastTurningLeft
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Post by GoingFastTurningLeft »

I'm going to show this to the EE major intern tomorrow and tell him to figure it out :lol:
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MrAl
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Post by MrAl »

Hi again,

I assumed that there was a trick to it like others have been suggesting,
and my first guess was there was a rotating key code, but others are
suggesting even simpler solutions.
What i didnt know however was what they were trying to prove, since
what do they expect us to believe that the switches are aliens and
they can see the bulbs whereever they are or something? ha ha.
Another example from a movie set in the present day:
"Yeah ok, that's it, a dinosaur did it, now will there be anything else
today sir?"
<(chuckle>

What i didnt know however was that they are actually trying to sell
these things. That's sort of a scam if you ask me. According to
that other web site they want 500 dollars each too, which is very
unreasonable. I certainly dont think anyone should buy one.
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
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jaem
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Post by jaem »

That's an interesting video... *chuckle* It's a good effect, if you don't think too much about it. I was thinking about the reset mechanism too. I might be wrong, but I believe that every time he turned them all off, he turned off the outside two at the same time, and then the inside two at the same time. Given that he only operated one switch at a time the rest of the time, it seems a fair presumption. Any comments?
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MrAl
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Post by MrAl »

Hi again,

Well, yes, he is using a trick to make it look like the 'machine' is doing
something almost impossible, when really the machine is just following
commands entered via the switches. I knew something was up when
he took off the colored handles and the machine supposedly still was
able to light up the 'correct' color bulbs. What i then started to wonder
was what was this guy trying to prove...that there are still some
magicians in the world today? We already know that, and that they
are all tricks meant to mislead the viewers into thinking that something
impossible is happening when really it's all a trick. Then i thought
well maybe he's just doing a magic trick and that's all, and for what
it is worth that's a bit of entertainment. But then the bad news i read
on the other site, that they were trying to sell these things for 500
dollars each. That's when it became a scam.
If anyone wants to make one, all they have to do is put a microcontroller
inside the unit connected to the four switches and bulbs (perhaps with
cheap darlington transistor bulb drivers) and program the unit to reset
after a time when no switches have been activated for say 30 seconds.
The programming comes when the switches are turned back on...either
the order could be the same each time where a certain position always
comes on first, or a rotating code could be used where since the 'magician'
(that would then be you) is the only person who knows the rotation
sequence so the correct sequence would always be known ahead of time
according to the last code. For example, first time the first switch that
should be thrown is the bulb on the left side, second run the first switch
to be thrown is the bulb on the right side, third run the first switch should
be second from the left side, etc., etc. This will really make it look
'magical'.
One other thing you'll notice is he always tries to mislead by saying that
the sequence is "Always the same, first the x color bulb, then the
y color bulb", but it's not always the same because the first color to
come on changes sometimes.

It's also interesting to note that a totally random machine could be
made by mounting a camera overhead and have it send the signal
via RF to the box, where it could determine the correct sequence,
even if the color switch tops are only put on the table in front of the
switches. Wouldnt be easy, but in todays world it's possible.
Heck, with such small SMD parts these days it might even be possible
to mount tiny transmitters inside the switch handles so as long as they
were close enough the box might be able to pick up the signals.
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
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jaem
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Post by jaem »

MrAl: Agreed that it's horribly overpriced, but I wouldn't call it a "scam". The website makes it pretty clear that it's intended to be bought by "magicians" to fool others. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you...

Edit: I took a further look at that website, and I guess I'll have to agree that it is a scam - but not in the way I originally thought you meant, MrAl. Then again, it's a little bit worse for us than for most people, since we look at something like that and say "I could make that for $20 [or whatever]", instead of just "that looks a bit expensive".
rolerbe
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Post by rolerbe »

Well, certainly wouldn't pay $500 for a kit, but it might be a fun project to build from scratch. Even more fun to do it without a uC.

Also seems a lot like some 'cute' homework assignments I've had in a college class (way back when).
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