camera obscura
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A camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of what's around it onto a screen or surface inside a darkened chamber. It's an early precursor to modern cameras and was important in the history of photography and art, as artists used it as a tool for creating detailed drawings and paintings.
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Illustration of the camera obscura principle from James Ayscough's A short account of the eye and nature of vision (1755 fourth edition) An image of the New Royal Palace at Prague Castle projected onto an attic wall by a hole in the tile roofing A camera obscura (pl. camerae obscurae or camera obscuras; from Latin camera obscūra 'dark chamber') is the natural phenomenon in which light passing through the small hole of a dark chamber or box will project an image of a scene outside the chamber (box) onto the surface opposite to the hole, resulting in an inverted (upside down) and reversed (left to right) projection of the view outside.
Camera obscura refers to analogous constructions such as a darkened room, box or tent in which an exterior image is projected inside or onto a translucent screen viewed from outside. Camera obscuras with a lens in the opening have been used since the second half of the 16th century and became popular as aids for drawing and painting. The technology was developed further into the photographic camera in the first half of the 19th century, when camera obscura boxes were used to expose light-sensitive materials to the projected image.