Monday, August 3, 2009

Got my milk, got my cookies, got my Viewmaster

Ever since I was little I was fascinated by the 'real' appearance of images inside of a Viewmaster.
Somehow those little discs could make everthing jump out, like you were actually in the image.

Stereoscopy (the technology utilized by the Viewmaster) is any technique capable of recording three-dimensional visual information or creating the an illusion of depth in an image.
The illusion of a 3D image is made possible by the viewmaster device which allows each eye to see a different image, distorting our binocular vision.

Under the umbrella of Stereoscopic imagery there's a bunch of things I find exciting. While the Viewmaster works in a Spacial or Cross-converged way, there's also complementary colour Anaglyphs (which you use those retro-looking red/blue glasses for) and Autostereograms (magic-eye type illusions), Lenticular printing and Holography.

While it is possible to create 3D stereoscopic images, we still seem to rely on a viewer to see the illusion. You can create your own 3D film (though this still requires 3D glasses), or you can spend ages squinting your eyes at pictures of cats on YouTube, like I did.
I'm just beginning to understand this and get my head around it, but definitely something to go on and explore within my work.


Want to see a guy inside a giant viewmaster? YES PLEASE.


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2 comments:

  1. UnknownAugust 15, 2009 at 7:54 PM

    H, your Stereoscopic link is broken the web site is still there though: http://www.binocularity.org

    bw
    Nick.

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  2. UnknownApril 26, 2013 at 8:34 AM

    Ah yes, the Viewmaster! I remember being so fascinated with them when I was a kid. I wanted to get as many films as possible. I think it's so great to see how far 3D pictures (and movies!) have come since the Viewmaster. “The Hobbit,” for example, is the best example of the next step in 3D. The 48-fps format really makes the foreground jump. It felt so real, I nearly reached out to touch! Oh, and there ARE ways to take 3D photographs now that don't require glasses! All you'd need is a regular digital camera and a photo software that lets you combine images. You might be interested in cross-eye 3D images. It's like those “Magic 3D” pictures that you have to look hard at or cross your eyes at to make the real picture come out.

    ~ Francesca

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