Detailed review by jipp05
The camera obsucura and world of illusions is located at the top of the Royal Mile in Edinburghs old town just before the entrance to the castle.
To be honest we only visited it because it was one of the free attractions with the Edinburgh card we had purchased and I was deteminded to get my moneys worth. However I am glad that we went as I thouraghly enjoyed myself and found it to be much more interesting than I had thought it would be.
When entering the helpful girl on reception informed us that the camera obscura show would be starting in ten minutes and she recommended that we start with that and then make our way around the rest of the exhibits.
The obscura show is located in the top floor of the building and there are some benches that you can sit on whilst you are waiting for the previous show to finish.
When it was out time to go into the show we were taken into a dark room where again there were circular benches so we could sit to enjoy the show. In the middle of the room was a white table where the images from the camera obscura were shown.
Although it looked very low-fi I'm still in the dark as to how the obscura worked but it was surprisingly fascinating. The lady who was taking our group told us some history of the obscura and the victorian age in general and I really liked this and although she had taken the previous group she talking with enthusiasm and tried to get eveybody involved.
After watching the obscura show we went out onto the rooftop for one of the most amazing views in Edinburgh.
After this we made our way down to the lower level and started to work our way through the world of illusion exhibits.
This was by far my favourite part of visiting the camera obscura and the exhibts were both fun and interesting. They had a great collection of optical illusions and the static balls were especially good. You could put your hands on them and your hair would stand on end. Juvenile maybe but loads of fun.
It was like stepping back into victorian fun house with lot's of mirrors that changed your body shape and even some brilliant kaelidascops. I was really impressed and think it would be a great experience for kids but that's not to say that adults can't also enjoy it.
The holograph exhibit was particulary impressive and would have been worth the price of admission alone.
There was also some less fun but nethertheless interesting victorian exhibits that the kids may not enjoy as much but I certainly did.
The camera obscura and world of illusion is a great attraction in Edinburgh and is well worth visiting for people of all ages.
Prices are £9.95 for adults and £7.95 for students and aldults but remember it is free with the Edinburgh card.
Camera Obscura and World of Illusions10
