In Pursuit of 3D

In Pursuit of 3D

Jayesh Limaye, Jul 06, 2009 1310 hrs IST

From no-tech to hi-tech, how the 3D dream is now within reach

Expert Review

Early attempts

The first recorded serious attempt at stereoscopy was made by Sir Charles Wheatstone around 1840. The method used for viewing images in three dimensions was by viewing stereo cards using a stereoscope.

A stereo card had two images with two different perspectives placed side by side.

The stereoscope consists of lenses that help focus the eyes on the two images so that they appear as one and create the illusion of depth due to the difference in perspective in them.

You do not always need a stereoscope to view the images as a single 3D image. Take a look at the above set of images. You can watch them using just your eyes. Relax your eyes as you watch them and you will slowly see four images instead of the above two. After a while, you will find the two images overlap and now you'll find three visible images with the centre image appearing as a 3D image. Though it requires a bit of effort initially to see images this way, the final result is no doubt very rewarding.

Stereoscopes gained popularity in the late 19th century. As you can see in the above photograph taken in 1893, the large stereoscope, known as stereoscopicon, made of cherry wood was used at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Stereoscopes were also used during war. One such stereoscope used during the war can be seen in the image above. They were used to view reconnaissance photographs of enemy territory taken by spy aircrafts using two cameras with synchronized shutters.

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Tag keywords

In Pursuit of the 3rd Dimension 3D Stereoscopy GeForce 3D Vision Nvidia Polarization technique Anaglyphic technique 3D movies virtual reality

Discussion Board

(9) Comments

goutam

,kolkata, on Jul 09, 2009 02:58 PM

pls send more details and price

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bingo

,thane, on Jul 10, 2009 10:47 AM

it is free

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Ben

,Bombay, on Jul 07, 2009 01:11 PM

I just couldn't get the 3D image on page 2, in spite of looking at it for 15 mins... Could you give me a hint and tell me at which spot should I be focussing on? Coz I too wanna join in the fun :)

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Manish

,mumbai, on Jul 07, 2009 07:58 PM

1. Hold the picture up to your nose and relax your focus. 2. Your eyes should be focused afar. Do not try to focus on the picture. 3. Slowly pull the picture away from your face, while still maintaining a distant focus. 4. Allow the picture to come into focus. 5. Repeat 1-4 until this works. Tips * To practice keeping your eyes focused far away, hold the picture in front of one eye while the other eye holds the focus on distant objects in the room. * The key is to keep your eyes relaxed. Relaxed eyes will come into position such that * You are not technically crossing your eyes to view the picture, but forcing them to view two different pictures, due to the spacing of the pattern in the stereogram. * A small segment of the population does not have stereovision, and will not ever be able to view stereograms. * It often takes several tries to get it (perhaps 30 minutes or more!), but once you see your first one, the others will come easier! * If you get good enough, you don't even have to move the picture or your face, you can just cross your eyes correctly and it will appear. * If you feel your eyes manually focusing, start over at step 1.

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Ben

,Bombay, on Jul 08, 2009 09:49 PM

OMG! So much effort goes into it?! Thanks for the tips, will retry when I have some time to spare :)

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himanshu

,pune, on Jul 07, 2009 07:53 PM

Amazing article, i am a regular gamer yet i did not know about these recent attempts to make truly 3D Games.

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Ramesh Akkannav

,PUNE, on Jul 07, 2009 10:18 AM

Also check DOLBY 3D & REAL D solutions for THEATRical experience. Unfortunately DOLBY 3D theater are not there in INDIA as of now. We missed ICEAGE3, Up in 3D.

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Manish

,mumbai, on Jul 06, 2009 03:54 PM

wow! the set of pics on page 2 are really 3D. awesome

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codeine-boy

,mumbai, on Jul 06, 2009 01:54 PM

marvelous piece of information. keep it up ttree

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