Genus

In the Optical Machine Taxonomy I use three levels to cluster optical machines into groups. The most general is family (e.g. Polyoramas). Families can contain more than one Genus (e.g. polyoramas panoptique and Lefort Boîtes). The smallest and most specific category is the species.

 

These are ongoing notes to document how I am determining genus boundaries.

 

Genus boundaries are defined by common structural features such as:

• Vertical /horizontal orientation
• Coulisses /no coulisses
• Open /closed structure
• Back illumination /no back illumination
• Concave mirror /Convex lens
• ...

Features that are acceptable to cross genus boundaries:

• Eras defined by image-type (e.g. kulissentheatres with lithos)
• Workshop (e.g. Lefort)
• Public /private (e.g. trapez guckkasten)
• ...

Genuses Organized by Family

Family	Genus 1	Genus 2	Genus 3	Genus 4
Show-Box Family :	Raree Show	Mondo Niovo	Shahr-E Farang	Bioscope
Graphoscope Family:	Graphoscope	Graphoscope /Stereoscope
Kulissentheater Family:	Kulissentheater – Horizontal	Kulissentheater – Vertical
Paper Diorama Family:	Lefort Boîtes	Polyorama Panoptique	Dioramic Boîtes