Uploaded January 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
[Low Intermediate] DIY Impossible Triangle -- How to make the TRIBAR in Origami!🔺 Penrose Triangle Optical Illusion. No tape or glue!...and no welding required!😂 This model was inspired by a video I saw by Henry Segerman showing a 3D printed version of this tribar illusion triangle, and then in my "up next" feed I was shown Hassan Abu-Izmero's viral welding TRIBAR which I was surprised to see had 8-million views in 1 month! Admittedly, THAT is what inspired me to try to design one out of origami.
TIPS for getting the optical illusion work. The gimmick needs to line up perfectly with the first bar and adjacent second bar and you probably will need to close one eye in order to be able to successfully view the optical illusion. This is because two eyes viewing would be in two places so it would be impossible to get it perfectly lined up from both places at the same time. If the gimmick is to long, you have two choices: you can shorten it by folding more off the tip or you can just view the model at a farther distance. Although I didn't show it in the video or thumbnail, I recommend trying to slightly narrow the gimmick flap with a tapered valley fold on its bottom edge, because as it is, you can kind of see in the thumbnail, where the blue bar and green bar come together, the gimmick's face looks unrealistically wide.
While it would be theoretically possible to make this model from one long rectangular sheet of paper, the difficulty in making the right-angle turns cleanly would make it a headache to fold and an even bigger headache to teach! So, instead, I opted for this modular approach. I'm happy with simple bars and connector units I designed here, and I think this has potential to be applied to making a host of other geometric shapes, especially if I can figure out how to make tri-vertex and quadra-vertex connector pieces (if one of you doesn't beat me to it! 😂).
I did a little investigation to try to figure out the origin of this solution to how to make a 3D Penrose Triangle in real life and the oldest video I found on YouTube was uploaded by Michael42er 5 years ago, but he cites an older now defunct Japanese blog called Ikemath as to where he got his blueprint from. As for the original Penrose Triangle, It turns out that it was not first discovered by Roger Penrose in the 1950s but instead by Swedish graphic artist Oscar Reutersvärd in 1934 (according to Wikipedia), but in my opinion Penrose Triangle or Tribar has a better ring to it, than Reutersvärd Triangle.
This origami model is not that difficult to fold, but you literally need to have a very particular point of view in order to see the illusion!😅
Here are some ways to support me in my work of designing and teaching new and cool origami models.
1. Join as a Member to get access to perks: youtube.com/channel/UC2OQxWDDE71D6AKrNa7XygQ/join
2. Book a private origami Zoom tutoring session here: calendly.com/jeremyshafer
3: Buy one of my books or packages of paper on my Amazon shop: amazon.com/shop/jeremyshaferorigami
4. Subscribe and hit the notification bell: youtube.com/channel/UC2OQxWDDE71D6AKrNa7XygQ?sub_confirmation=1
5: Follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/jeremyshaferorigami ... or Facebook: https://www.https://www.facebook.com/jeremyshaferorigami
6: Please tell your friends about my channel.
Thank you for watching and enjoying these videos!
Timecodes
0:00 - 0:28 Intro
0:28 - 1:20 Dividing square into 3 sheets
1:20 - 3:30 Connector Unit
3:40 - 8:00 First Bar
8:00 - 9:20 Connecting the Connector Unit
9:20 - 12:16 Second Bar
12:16 - 13:15 Connecting 2nd Bar
13:15 - 14:15 Connecting 2nd Connector Unit
14:15 - 15:06 Third Bar
15:06 - 15:45 Connecting the 3rd Bar
15:50 - 16:48 Gimmick (2X1 Rectangle)
16:48 - 18:44 Attaching the Gimmick
18:44 - 18:55 Jeremy gets confused (funny)
19:00 - 21:10 How to turn it into the optical illusion
#tribar
#origamiopticalillusion
#jeremyshaferorigami
#OrigamiPenroseTriangle
#Tribar
#jeremyshaferorigami
[Low Intermediate] DIY Impossible Triangle -- How to make the TRIBAR in Origami!🔺 Penrose Triangle Optical Illusion. No tape or glue!...and no welding required!😂 This model was inspired by a video I saw by Henry Segerman showing a 3D printed version of this tribar illusion triangle, and then in my "up next" feed I was shown Hassan Abu-Izmero's viral welding TRIBAR which I was surprised to see had 8-million views in 1 month! Admittedly, THAT is what inspired me to try to design one out of origami.
TIPS for getting the optical illusion work. The gimmick needs to line up perfectly with the first bar and adjacent second bar and you probably will need to close one eye in order to be able to successfully view the optical illusion. This is because two eyes viewing would be in two places so it would be impossible to get it perfectly lined up from both places at the same time. If the gimmick is to long, you have two choices: you can shorten it by folding more off the tip or you can just view the model at a farther distance. Although I didn't show it in the video or thumbnail, I recommend trying to slightly narrow the gimmick flap with a tapered valley fold on its bottom edge, because as it is, you can kind of see in the thumbnail, where the blue bar and green bar come together, the gimmick's face looks unrealistically wide.
While it would be theoretically possible to make this model from one long rectangular sheet of paper, the difficulty in making the right-angle turns cleanly would make it a headache to fold and an even bigger headache to teach! So, instead, I opted for this modular approach. I'm happy with simple bars and connector units I designed here, and I think this has potential to be applied to making a host of other geometric shapes, especially if I can figure out how to make tri-vertex and quadra-vertex connector pieces (if one of you doesn't beat me to it! 😂).
I did a little investigation to try to figure out the origin of this solution to how to make a 3D Penrose Triangle in real life and the oldest video I found on YouTube was uploaded by Michael42er 5 years ago, but he cites an older now defunct Japanese blog called Ikemath as to where he got his blueprint from. As for the original Penrose Triangle, It turns out that it was not first discovered by Roger Penrose in the 1950s but instead by Swedish graphic artist Oscar Reutersvärd in 1934 (according to Wikipedia), but in my opinion Penrose Triangle or Tribar has a better ring to it, than Reutersvärd Triangle.
This origami model is not that difficult to fold, but you literally need to have a very particular point of view in order to see the illusion!😅
Here are some ways to support me in my work of designing and teaching new and cool origami models.
1. Join as a Member to get access to perks: youtube.com/channel/UC2OQxWDDE71D6AKrNa7XygQ/join
2. Book a private origami Zoom tutoring session here: calendly.com/jeremyshafer
3: Buy one of my books or packages of paper on my Amazon shop: amazon.com/shop/jeremyshaferorigami
4. Subscribe and hit the notification bell: youtube.com/channel/UC2OQxWDDE71D6AKrNa7XygQ?sub_confirmation=1
5: Follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/jeremyshaferorigami ... or Facebook: https://www.https://www.facebook.com/jeremyshaferorigami
6: Please tell your friends about my channel.
Thank you for watching and enjoying these videos!
Timecodes
0:00 - 0:28 Intro
0:28 - 1:20 Dividing square into 3 sheets
1:20 - 3:30 Connector Unit
3:40 - 8:00 First Bar
8:00 - 9:20 Connecting the Connector Unit
9:20 - 12:16 Second Bar
12:16 - 13:15 Connecting 2nd Bar
13:15 - 14:15 Connecting 2nd Connector Unit
14:15 - 15:06 Third Bar
15:06 - 15:45 Connecting the 3rd Bar
15:50 - 16:48 Gimmick (2X1 Rectangle)
16:48 - 18:44 Attaching the Gimmick
18:44 - 18:55 Jeremy gets confused (funny)
19:00 - 21:10 How to turn it into the optical illusion
#tribar
#origamiopticalillusion
#jeremyshaferorigami
#OrigamiPenroseTriangle
#Tribar
#jeremyshaferorigami
