Instant Rebate
/The ISO app got an add-on feature that allows you to use augmented reality to replace the serial number on a dollar bill in a photo on a spectator’s phone.
Ryan Plunkett wrote in with this idea:
I just saw this ISO app update come through, and this is what popped into my head.
You have someone take a bill out of their wallet and you take a photo of them holding it. You then drag them over to a vending machine and have them pay for a bag of chips. They have a free selection. You show your hands empty, reach inside the vending machine to pull out the bag of chips, then cleanly open the bag to show the bill inside.
The method is rather simple. The final bill is in a thumb tip that you hide inside the base of a vending machine. The ISO app switches the serial number and they actually spend it. When you reach inside of the lower compartment, you place the thumb tip on, and reveal accordingly.
This seems incredibly practical and possibly something that fits your style. —RP
I’ve seen a similar trick done in the past with a torn corner, but doing it with the ISO app and the Serial AR functionality takes it to another level because you don’t have to ever touch the bill before it’s inserted into the machine.
And I really like Ryan’s idea of having the thumbtip ready to go inside the base of the machine.
What I would likely do is take the picture of them holding the bill, have them insert the bill, then give them the camera to record a video. That way they’ll have video evidence of me reaching into the machine with empty hands, pulling out their freely chosen chips, and finding their dollar inside.
The strongest element of using ISO with a bill to impossible location effect is that you never have to touch the bill at the start of the trick. You don’t have to switch the bill or switch a corner or anything like that. And using the vending machine as a way to “vanish” the bill (in a manner of speaking) lets you maintain that hands-off element of the trick while allowing the spectator to get rid of the bill. And unlike burning the bill or tearing it up and flushing it down the toilet, you get chips out of doing it this way.
