How/why two way mirrors are used
Two way mirrors are mainly used by the police in interrogation rooms because the police don't want the suspect to know that they are really talking to two or more people. Since the two way mirror acts as a mirror on the suspect's side, most of them will think that they are only talking to the people in the room with them. This may cause them to be less stressed or intimidated and could cause them to cooperate more than if they were talking directly to 5 cops.
Two way mirrors are also used in things like focus groups where the people in the 'interrogation room' aren't meant to know that they are being watched. These mirrors are helpful in these circumstances because the focus group members can give their honest opinions on the product or idea presented to them. If the focus group members were talking directly to all of the people running the focus group, they may be inclined to say what will make the company happy rather than their true opinion.
Other uses of two way mirrors include:
- Execution rooms
- Experimental research
- Security Observation Decks
- Teleprompters (much smaller mirror used)