Domino is a family of games played with a set of six or more pieces. These pieces are usually made of metal or a polymer and are often painted. They can also be made of wood or ceramic.
Some sets are very intricately designed to form a unique, interesting shape or pattern. For example, some sets are shaped like the number six, or the letters ‘J’ and ‘K’. Other sets are shaped like a diamond or a triangle. Others have curved ends, so that each tile can be bent to create 120-degree curves (known as “double-six dominoes”) or straight ends that can be tipped to one side of the table.
Creating an interesting domino display is an art, and the process can take hours. But a few people have developed a knack for it.
A domino artist named Jennifer Hevesh is one of them. She has designed complex displays that involve 300,000 dominoes. She uses science to design her installations, and she says a key physical phenomenon is gravity.
When she makes a complex installation, she begins with a test version of each section. Filming the tests in slow motion allows her to make precise corrections if something doesn’t work right. Once all the sections work, she adds lines of dominoes to connect them.
She’s even built a Guinness World Record for the most dominoes toppled in a circular arrangement: 76,017. She says a lot of the work goes into making sure the dominoes fall exactly the way she wants them to.
In addition to designing and building these impressive displays, Hevesh also works with a company that manufactures a variety of plastic and rubber products for use in the entertainment industry. They’re a popular choice for making large-scale, 3-D displays because they can stand up to the wear and tear of high-traffic areas.
Using a variety of different materials, Hevesh has designed a range of beautiful installations, from the ‘Twin Towers’ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to the ‘Loony Towers’ at Universal Orlando. Her work has been exhibited around the world.
Her designs are based on a principle called the “Domino Effect,” which describes a series of events that occur when one trigger starts a cascade of other similar events. It’s a common metaphor for political situations, but it can also be used to describe how a chain reaction happens in other fields.
Another common idiom is the “falling domino effect,” which refers to any scenario in which one event sparks a chain of related events that continues to grow. It can be a simple mechanical phenomenon or it could be a metaphor for global finance or politics.
The domino effect has a long history, dating back to the 18th century. It’s an ancient symbol of luck, but it also has a deep philosophical significance.
Originally, each domino represented one of the 21 results that resulted from throwing two 6-sided dice (2d6). In Chinese domino sets, each of the pips on one half of each domino represented a military suit while the other half of each domino represented a civil suit.