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The Curiosity Box

The Body Deck

The Body Deck

$25.00 USD
$25.00 USD
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Version
GLOW IN THE DARK OPTION · PRE-ORDER

This high-quality deck of translucent playing cards features a detailed set of cross sections that assemble into a 3D image of the human body. The new Glow in the Dark Edition does all of that with the lights off — pre-order it now, have it delivered before the end of the year. The Original Body Deck is available immediately. Not to be used (obviously) for any medical purposes.

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SEE IT IN ACTION

The Body Deck

WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT

Making it glow

Making this glow was harder than it sounds. Glow in the dark pigment does not produce light, it stores energy and releases it slowly as light, so light has to get in to charge it and back out again to be seen. Our first idea was to glow only the skeleton, but on these cards the skeleton is printed underneath muscle, organs and skin, and all that ink blocks the light going both ways. The prototype was a faint green smudge. So we made every card glow in full instead, which turned out to be the right answer, because this deck was never about seeing through a body. It cuts one. Deal your way down through the slices and the moment you reach bone, there it is, glowing.

Fifty-two slices of a person

The Body Deck belongs to a long tradition of trying to see inside a person without opening one. Its closest ancestor is the Visible Human Project, which in 1994 froze a cadaver in a block of gelatin and ground it away a millimeter at a time, photographing all 1,871 slices. That body was cut along the axial plane, head to feet, like a loaf of bread. Yours is cut along the coronal plane, front to back, so every card is a full standing figure at a different depth. Fifty-two slices, and a person assembled out of them.

QUESTIONS?

ANSWERS, BEFORE YOU ASK

When will it arrive?

The standard deck ships within two weeks. The glow in the dark edition is a pre-order and arrives by Christmas.

How long does the glow last, and how do I charge it?

Spread the cards out and hold them under a lamp or in sunlight for a few seconds. They'll glow for about several minutes, fading gradually.

Can I actually play cards with it?

Yes. Standard suits, standard values, standard size. Fully playable right up until someone at the table memorizes which slice belongs to which card and starts reading your hand from the back.