3D Technology in P12 Education: Cameras, Editing, and Apps

Stereoscopy

Stereoscopic imagery has since become extremely popular, though many people do not have an understanding of how it works. Stereoscopic technology is “a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer” (Stereoscopy, 2011). The anaglyph images “are used to provide a stereoscopic 3D effect, when viewed with glasses, where the two lenses are different (usually chromatically opposite) colors, such as red and cyan. Images are made up of two color layers, superimposed, but offset with respect to each other to produce a depth effect” (Anaglyph Image, 2011). Such an idea is accomplished because it applies the understanding of a human’s ability to see. The pupils of a human are approximately two and one half inches apart. Each eye views scenes slightly differently. The brain then merges the two images to create a single image, giving us a sense of depth (Swillens, 2006).

The invention of the stereoscope opened the door that allowed a wide variety of new technologies to emerge, especially those that utilize the third dimension. Movies created for the use of stereoscopic 3D have been seen since 1903, when the technology was utilized in the short film titled L’arrivee du Train. The film, which had a running time of no longer than a minute, depicts a train from an angle so that, especially with the stereoscopic affect, seems as if it is coming out toward the audience. Since many people were unfamiliar with the cinema at all, let alone 3D, they were terrified at the idea of the train coming toward them. In 1922, Power of Love, starring Elliot Sparling and Barbara Bedford, was released becoming the first commercially released film to utilize the anaglyph glasses to view the stereoscopic movie (Deverich, 1999). The movie was a success, and people wanted more of this exciting new imagery.