Abstract: Parallax ghosting is mitigated in a mounted lenticular grating with for many-frame animation by having lenticules at an offset angle ? relative to the viewing vertical and incorporating ghosting in the base images. Where ? is an angular range orthogonal to the longitudinal axes of the lenticules over which m picture slices in the base graphic are viewable, V is the distance between the viewer's eyes, and L is the distance of the viewer from the lenticular grating, the number N of picture slices viewed due to the parallax effect given by N=2(m/?)arc tan(V|cos ?|2 L). The above variables are chosen such that the number N of viewed picture slices is not too large. Ghosting of foreground images from neighboring frames is added to mitigate parallax-induced washing-out of colors. To create a three-dimensional effect, ghosted images are shifted in position by an amount related to their intended distance out-of-plane.

Abstract: Parallax ghosting is mitigated in a mounted lenticular grating with for many-frame animation by having lenticules at an offset angle ? relative to the viewing vertical and incorporating ghosting in the base images. Where ? is an angular range orthogonal to the longitudinal axes of the lenticules over which m picture slices in the base graphic are viewable, V is the distance between the viewer's eyes, and L is the distance of the viewer from the lenticular grating, the number N of picture slices viewed due to the parallax effect given by N=2(m/?)arc tan(V|cos ?|2 L). The above variables are chosen such that the number N of viewed picture slices is not too large. Ghosting of foreground images from neighboring frames is added to mitigate parallax-induced washing-out of colors. To create a three-dimensional effect, ghosted images are shifted in position by an amount related to their intended distance out-of-plane.

Abstract: A stringed-instrument slide (100) which is a truncated conical shell with the narrower end at the top (110) and with a roughly semi-circular cut-away (150) along the base (130), so a substantial portion of the mass is below the level of the finger-palm joint. The mass of the slide (100) is predominantly born by the region of contact of the slide (100) with the palm (98) rather than along the pinky (99) so the slide (100) has the sensation of being “balanced” and relatively “weightless” on the pinky (99) and the pressure applied by the pinky (90) corresponds closely to the actual pressure of the slide (100) on the strings, and the forces and torques required to move the slide (100) onto and off of the strings is reduced, thereby facilitating play, particularly rapid and/or nuanced play.

Abstract: A candy for use as a game having multiple portions, e.g., layers or sections, bearing images of icons (messages, symbols, indicia, numbers, letters, etc.) which are revealed upon the consumption of the layers, or breaking away or consumption of sections. The images in the sequence of images on each candy are unpredictably (from the viewpoint of players) selected from a set of icons, and games such as Rock, Paper, Scissors may be played with two or more candies. In an alternate embodiment the icons are a heart, a bow and an arrow. If the candy is sectioned into break-away sections, then images are hidden from the opposing player(s) or all players by being located in recesses which become exposed when the sections are broken apart from each other or the main body of the candy. The break-away candy may have a vector or matrix geometry. If the candy is layered, the candy may be spherical with layers being concentric spherical shells with the images being printed on outside surfaces of the shells.

Abstract: A cylindrical metal disc is optimized to spin/roll on a base for an extended length of time, and as the angle of inclination of the disc decreases to zero, a tone emitted by the spinning/rolling of the disc rises in pitch towards infinity. To optimize the spinning/rolling time, the radius-to-height aspect ratio of the disc is approximately three, the upper surface of the base and the lower edge of the disc are smooth and hard to enable the disc to spin/roll for an extended length of time, and the base has three legs and is solidly constructed to minimize energy losses due to vibration. The upper surface of the base is concave to prevent the disc from wandering as it spins/rolls. The top of the disc is tessellated with tiles having effectively random optic orientations to produce the appearance of a cloud of sparkling lights in the vicinity of the top surface of the disc as it spins/rolls.