Zoetropes may have been invented thousands of years ago (Wikipedia says around 100 BCE), the technology can still be used to today for some very cool effects. I first saw the 3D zoetrope effect at a Blue Man Group show with “dancers” off the side, and again at the Animation building at Disney California Adventures. However, I’ve not yet seen anything as cool as this, from designer John Edmark, professor of design at Stanford University:
Fibonacci Zoetrope Sculptures from Pier 9 on Vimeo.
The sculptures are 3D-printed, then animated under a strobe or a camera with an extremely fast shutter speed to achieve the movement effects.
Cool. I highly recommend looking around his site, his mathematics-inspired sculptures are eye-catching as well as beautiful.