Stereoscopic 3D in Computers

Abstract

When first explored and demonstrated, Stereovision (S3D) was a novelty and to some degree still is today. For some situations such as visualization of computer-aided design and medical analysis, S3D is a valuable and necessary capability. For commercial applications such as signage point-of-sale systems, it can be very helpful in communicating the size, scale and details of a product. In entertainment systems such as the cinema, TV, PCs, and mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, the technology can enhance the experience but the result is heavily dependent on the quality and construct of the content. And in static or semi-static devices such as digital picture frames, S3D is a conversation piece and is usually interesting. The illusion of depth or perspective was first explored in paintings of the early middle ages to enhance the illusion of space. Photogrammetry is the technique of measuring objects (2D or 3D) from photographs; it date back to 1525. Auto-stereoscopic, also known as “glasses-free”, displays are found in mobile devices such as handheld game consoles, tablets, and smartphones and potentially in cameras and handheld GPS devices. Active shutter glasses switch off or block light alternately at a frame rate that is acceptable to the human eye’s persistence level. It may be a cliché but stereovision does allow the viewer to see more, and can when the content is mastered correctly, give a greater sense of realism, and bring the true 3D’ness out.

Appendix

8.1.1 The History of S3D

1844	David Brewster introduces the Stereoscope, a device for taking stereo photographs.
1851	A 3D photo of Queen Victoria is displayed at The Great Exhibition.
1855	Kinematoscope (Stereo Animation Camera) invented.
1895	Édouard Deville built the first stereoplotter.
1915	First anaglyphic movie produced.
1922	First anaglyphic movie shown in theatres (The Power of Love).
1935	The first color 3D movie is produced.
1947	The first Russian 3D movie, Robinson Crusoe, is produced.
1952	Touted as the world’s first feature-length 3D movie, Bwana Devil is released in the USA and heralds a short-lived boom in 3D movie production.
1953	Two groundbreaking 3D movies are released: Man in the Dark and House of Wax. The latter is the first 3D movie released with stereo sound, and is directed by André De Toth—who has only one eye.
1953	The 3D Follies becomes the first 3D film to be cancelled during production, signaling the end of the 3D boom.
1960	September Storm is the first anaglyphic movie released in the Cinemascope format (although technically it’s just an expanded non-anamorphic film).
1981	Comin at Ya! is released in anaglyphic format using the “over and under” process (where two views are printed on a single frame, one above the other). This film launches the 3D boom of the 1980s that includes Amityville 3D, Friday the 13th Part III and Jaws 3D.
2009	James Cameron’s film Avatar, shot with the Fusion Camera System he helped develop, is hailed as the best 3D film to date and helps push 3D towards the mainstream.
2010	The world’s first dedicated 3D television channel, South Korea’s SKY 3D, launches with side-by-side 1920 × 1080i resolution.
2010	The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) features prototype 3D televisions from most major manufacturers.

8.1.2 Symbols

As art historians have pointed out, early art was often iconographic, depicting symbols, as these Egyptian symbols for fractions illustrate, rather than aspiring to three-dimensional realism [34]. This early history underscores a second aspect of pictures, which we must consider: their symbolic content. Because of the potentially arbitrary relation between a symbol, and what it denotes, a symbol itself is not a picture. Nevertheless, from the very beginning, symbols have found their way into many pictures, and we now must live with both the symbolic and geometric aspects of pictorial communication. Furthermore, focusing on the symbolic content has the useful effect of reminding the viewer of the essentially duplicitous nature of a picture since, though it inherently represents an alternative space, it itself is an object with a flat surface and fixed distance from the viewer (Fig. 8.54).

Fig. 8.54

Egyptian hieroglyphic for the Eye of Horus illustrating the symbolic aspect of pictographs (Courtesy of Benoît Stella alias BenduKiwi (CC BY-SA 3.0))

Each part of the eye is also a symbol for a commonly used fraction. These assignments follow from a myth in which the Sun, represented by the eye, was torn to pieces by the God of Darkness later reassembled by Thoth, the God of Learning.