Phantasmascope

The phénakisticope (better known as phenakistiscope or the later misspelling phenakistoscope) was the first widespread animation device that created a fluid illusion of motion. The phenakistiscope is regarded as one of the first forms of moving media entertainment that paved the way for the future motion picture and film industry. It is sometimes compared to GIF animation since both show a short continuous loop.

The term 'phénakisticope' was explained in its introduction article in Le Figaro in June 1833 to be from the root Greek word 'phenakisticos' (or rather - phenakizein), meaning "to deceive" or "to cheat", and - óps, meaning "eye" or "face", so it was probably intended as a transliteration of 'optical deception' or 'optical illusion'.

The term phénakisticope was probably first used by the French company Alphonse Giroux et Compagnie in their application for an import license (29 May 1833) and this name was used on their box sets. Fellow Parisian publisher Junin also used the term 'phenakisticope' (both with and without the accent).

Inventor Joseph Plateau did not give a name for the device when he first published about it in January 1833, but used 'phénakisticope' later that year in another article to refer to the published versions he was not involved with. By then, he had an authorized set published first as Phantasmascope and later as Fantascope. In writings and presentations Plateau used both the terms phénakisticope and fantascope, seemingly using phénakisticope as the better known name and fantascope as a preferred name.

The spelling 'phenakistiscope' was possibly introduced by lithographers Forrester & Nichol in collaboration with optician John Dunn; they used the title "The Phenakistiscope, or, Magic Disc" for their box sets, as advertised in September 1833. The corrupted part 'scope' was understood to be derived from Greek 'skopos', meaning "aim", "target", "object of attention" or "watcher", "one who watches" and was quite common in the naming of optical devices (e.g. Telescope, Microscope, Kaleidoscope, Fantascope, Bioscope).

The phénakisticope usually comes in the form of a spinning cardboard disc attached vertically to a handle. Arrayed radially around the disc's center are a series of pictures showing sequential phases of the animation. Small rectangular apertures are spaced evenly around the rim of the disc. The user would spin the disc and look through the moving slits at the images reflected in a mirror. The scanning of the slits across the reflected images keeps them from simply blurring together, so that the user can see a rapid succession of images that appear to be a single moving picture.

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