how do one way mirrors work?
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There are two things at play.
Firstly as others have pointed out the lighting is an important factor.
The second is the coating. A mirror reflects because the glass is coated with a thin metal layer. In a one way mirror there are gaps in this coating allowing the light to pass through. But on the other side you don’t want it reflective, you want the coating to be black. That way the only light you will see from the mirror is the light shining through the gaps, none of the light from your side will be reflected.
This means that even if the lighting is the same on both sides it is far easier to see through in one direction than the other. Combine this with the correct lighting and it works very well.
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