A D V E N T U R E S   in   C Y B E R S O U N D

The idea of stereoscopy actually preceded photography. As early as 1584, Leonardo da Vinci, one of the great scientific artists, studied the perception of depth.

Stereoscopic Photography

Stereoscopic, or 3-D photography, works because it is able to recreate the illusion of depth. Human eyes are set about two-and-a-half inches apart, so each eye sees an image slightly differently. If you take two separate photographs that same distance apart, with a suitable viewer it is possible to recreate that illusion of depth.

There is some dispute in 3-D circles whether the concept was invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone who, in June 1838, gave an address to the Royal Scottish Society of Arts on the phenomena of binocularvision. He made geometric 3-D drawings and a device to view them called a reflecting mirror stereoscrope. (This is preserved at the Science Museum in London.)

Almost twelve years later, the Scottish scientist Sir David Brewster invented the first practical photographic device called the lenticular stereoscope.

Early workers in this field include Roger Fenton, who took photographs in Russia, when he visited there in 1852, and Jules Duboscq, who made stereoscopes and stereoscopic daguerreotypes. Duboscq in turn caused Antoine Claudet to become interested in stereoscopy; Claudet patented stereoscopes in 1853.

The stereoscope took off in a big way when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert observed one at the exhibition at the Crystal Palace, and Brewster presented her with a stereoscope made by Duboscq. Almost overnight a 3-D industry developed and 250,000 stereoscropes were produced and sold in a short time. Stereographers were sent throughout the world to capture views for the new medium and feed the demand for 3-D.

The golden age of stereography had begun. From 1860 to the 1930's, the stereo cards documented life of the time and important events. A variety of viewers became available, from the simple Holmes viewer to cabinet-type viewers which could store fifty or so positives.

The London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company came into being in 1850 and continued for seventy years. The Stereoscopic Society was founded in 1893, and still exists today.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/the_net/e2/history.html

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The principle behind 3-D is fairly simple and is based on the fact that human vision is binocular. Our eyes are separated by a distance of about two and a half inches. Since each eye is in a slightly different position, we commonly perceive objects from two different points of view at the same time. The perception of depth is a result of these two slighty different perspectives. 3-D reproduces the mechanics of binocular vision.

Stereoscopic, or 3-D, drawing was created in 1838 by Sir Charles Wheatstone. After a few refinements, his invention, the stereoscope, was to be a popular device which could be found in many turn-of-the century homes. 3 by 7 inch stereographic cards containing two side-by-side images were inserted into the stereoscopic viewer. When seen through the viewer the two images were combined into a single image with depth.

The first three-dimensional motion pictures were developed by William Friese-Green in 1889. Friese-Green devised a dioptic camera with twin lenses that took two pictures side-by-side on a strip of celluloid that corresponded to left and right eye view points. The remnants of the Friese-Green system survive today in still versions such as the View-Master system, until recently? sold world-wide in toy stores.

also...

3-D comic books made use of a 3-D device known as the anaglyph. The red-green anaglyphic process is based on the patents of Ducos du Hauron who described the system in 1858. The system requires that the left image be dyed red and the right image be dyed green (or vice versa). The two images are then printed superimposed on the page slightly off-register. The red and green lenses allow each eye to view the page separately and give the effect of depth.

Source: http://home.earthlink.net/~r3dzone/Ana.html

Further Reading: http://www.dddesign.com/3dbydan/3dlinks/linksz.htm

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