Stereoscopic interactive model Interactive

Object On display
Photograph by Egmont Contreras

Three-dimensional images have been around for more than 180 years – they just weren’t called ‘3D’. Stereoscopic images are two separate pictures with slightly different perspectives. A stereoscopic viewer mimics how we see so that the two images converge into a single three-dimensional picture.

British inventor Charles Wheatstone discovered this process in 1838 and used a device as big as a table to make it work. Another British scientist, David Brewster, later simplified and shrank the viewer into a portable, hand-held device.

Stereoscopic viewers were popular home entertainment in the Victorian era. They let people see 3D engineering wonders, like new skyscrapers and railroads, as well as sightseeing slides from across the natural world.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

On display until

16 February 2031

ACMI: Gallery 1

Appears in

Group of items

Stereoscopic viewers and cards

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Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

P181418

Curatorial section

The Story of the Moving Image → Moving Pictures → MI-08. Immersive Innovations → MI-08-C01

Measurements

180 x 162 x 232 mm

Object Types

Exhibition Prop

Collected

11992 times

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/99916--stereoscopic-interactive-model/ |title=Stereoscopic interactive model |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=29 March 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}