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Self-made paper blindfold

Stefan

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Inspired by Ramadan (from [thread=25465]this thread[/thread]):
Ramadan.jpg


I tried that, but it was a bit cumbersome getting the paper under the blindfold properly. So instead, I made a blindfold just from paper and some elastic band. The band is for pajamas etc, maybe your parents have some, I bought 3 meters for 99 cents in a dollar store. Marked the paper about 6 cm from top, strengthened it there with some adhesive tape, and simply stapled the band (I took about 41 cm) to it. Makes it very clear that I can't peek underneath, and it's easy to pull down quickly. I used white paper because it's more convincing than black paper, where holes might be hard to see. It's a bit thicker than normal, 100g/m^2, if you have thinner paper maybe use two sheets.

up.jpg
down.jpg
flat.jpg
band.jpg
connect.jpg
 
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Mike Hughey

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Not a bad idea. Do you think this would be considered valid for competition rules? Meaning, do you think it would meet the following requirements simultaneously?

# B1b1) Competitors must bring their own blindfold.
# B1b2) Blindfolds should be checked by the WCA delegate before use in the competition.
# B4c) During the full solve the judge must keep a sheet of paper or a similar object (not limiting physical movement of the competitor) between the competitor's face and the puzzle, unless the puzzle is in a position where peeking at the puzzle is not possible.

I could see this being deemed worthy of trying by our delegate (hi, Jim) the next time we do big cubes BLD or multiBLD at a KOII competition (since people hate holding the paper), which is why I ask.

I would also think it would be very important to make sure the paper is thick enough to be truly opaque. But that's what rule B1b2 is for.
 

Stefan

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Or make a wide one and use it like this (yeah, should've used longer band so the paper wouldn't curl). This might also be interesting for the super fast people because it takes zero time to pull down the blindfold (you just tilt your head up and start solving).

wide.jpg

memo.jpg
solve.jpg
 

Mike Hughey

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Or make a wide one and use it like this (yeah, should've used longer band so the paper wouldn't curl). This might also be interesting for the super fast people because it takes zero time to pull down the blindfold (you just tilt your head up and start solving).

I think I would be concerned that this would leave too much room for inadvertent cheating - starting solving while you can still sort of see the cube. For me, it seems like it's better that we have a specific obvious movement that constitutes "donning the blindfold". Also, remember that part of the idea of still using a blindfold despite a judge covering with the paper is that the competitor should not be able to see signals from an audience member. I think we really need the competitor's eyes covered. So I like the first idea better.
 

Karth

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It's a great idea and I'd very much want to know if it'd be allowed at competitions.
But seeing you'd see the audience with the wider one I would say it's not good enough.
 

Stefan

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Do you think this would be considered valid for competition rules?

If done right, I think it does follow the rules. A problem might be that since you can look at the cube with a quick tilt of your head, the judge needs to watch carefully. I could imagine this to work well at least for fast solves where the competitor can hold the head still and the judge can watch continuously. For longer ones, the competitor might want to move the head a bit sometimes to relax the muscles or whatever, so that could look suspicious.

I would also think it would be very important to make sure the paper is thick enough to be truly opaque.

Try it. I can't see the colors through paper if the cube is more than 1 mm behind the paper.
 
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Stefan

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But seeing you'd see the audience with the wider one I would say it's not good enough.

Ah, right, good point. The judge could hold a paper in front, though. And for unofficial solves (home video, cube meeting) this blindfold plus eyes closed would be good, I think.
 

cmhardw

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Not a bad idea. Do you think this would be considered valid for competition rules? Meaning, do you think it would meet the following requirements simultaneously?

This paper blindfold should be considered the blindfold in my opinion. There would still need to be the judge's paper between the cube and the blindfold.

By the regulations every competitor should have 2 simultaneous means of blocking the view of the cube: the blindfold and the judge's paper.

Using a paper blindfold like this should be no different, there still need to be 2 simultaneous ways to block the view of the cube with the current regulations as written.

Chris
 

Stefan

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Using a paper blindfold like this should be no different, there still need to be 2 simultaneous ways to block the view of the cube with the current regulations as written.

Which rule requires that? This one even explicitly says a paper might not be necessary:

"During the full solve the judge must keep a sheet of paper or a similar object (not limiting physical movement of the competitor) between the competitor's face and the puzzle, unless the puzzle is in a position where peeking at the puzzle is not possible."
 
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Pedro

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Which rule requires that? This one even explicitly says a paper might not be necessary:

"During the full solve the judge must keep a sheet of paper or a similar object (not limiting physical movement of the competitor) between the competitor's face and the puzzle, unless the puzzle is in a position where peeking at the puzzle is not possible."

Exactly what I was going to say.

Stefan, isn't it uncomfortable during memo?
 

Mike Hughey

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Which rule requires that? This one even explicitly says a paper might not be necessary:

"During the full solve the judge must keep a sheet of paper or a similar object (not limiting physical movement of the competitor) between the competitor's face and the puzzle, unless the puzzle is in a position where peeking at the puzzle is not possible."

Yes, that's why I thought this might qualify under the rules. I really think with Stefan's first approach (paper covering the full face), there may not be any need for any other item to block the competitor or the puzzle.
 

jiggy

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kochfest.jpg

lol

Anyway, this is an amazing idea. Personally, I'm convinced that the under-the-chin blindfold is the way of the future. Have you considered patenting this?
 

Slash

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You have dollar stores in Germany? I thought you used the Eu over there.

We do have euro and dollar shops in Hungary even though we use Forints (HUF). We pay the amount of 1€/$ in HUF for almost everything in that shop

On topic, I think the idea is good but I think it'd disturb me. I have an idea about (original type) blindfold combined with paper. So, the part which is over your eyes is a basic blindfold, and a piece of paper is sewed/glued on the blindfold. This btw can be replaced with some kind of "curtain" which is long enough to make you unable to peek under it.
 

Stefan

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Stefan, isn't it uncomfortable during memo?

The first one isn't, the second one might be if you take long to memo. But for people memorizing in 10-30 seconds, it should be fine.

You have dollar stores in Germany? I thought you used the Eu over there.

The euro, yes. I didn't want to write euro store (ugly and not entirely clear that euro is meant as currency), 1-buck-store also looked ugly, so I ended up with dollar store which I thought is familiar to everyone. Of course it might be misleading that I wrote dollar store and then said I paid 99 cents, which were euro cents, but dollar and euro aren't that far off and it's a negligible amount anyway, which was the point. All parts are cheap, and might be in your house already.

Have you considered patenting this?

Ha, too cheap and I think I've actually showed it a while ago already (with a regular blindfold, not with just an elastic band directly connected) and you don't get patents for long published stuff.

Edit: wait, yeah, it's actually on my homepage :D
http://www.stefan-pochmann.de/spocc/blindsolving/blindfolds/
 
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