The Giphoscope is inspired by an early motion picture device, patented by Herman Casler in 1894, the Mutoscope, which worked on the same principle as the “flip book”. The individual image frames were conventional black-and-white, silver-based photographic prints on tough, flexible opaque cards. Rather than being bound into a booklet, the cards were attached to a circular core. A reel typically held about 850 cards, giving a viewing time of about a minute.