3D Images!

Cross-eyed Fun!

The solar observing season has ended, but I'm still having fun making pictures. I've been playing with 3D images, learning by trial and error. The technique is easy to carry out. Use a digital camera to capture two images of the same scene from slightly different viewpoints. Take the first image, then move the camera slightly to the right and take the second image. Place the images side by side and view them cross-eyed. The two images combine into a single 3D image that pops into perception with surprising clarity. Detailed instructions for cross-eyed viewing can be found here, here, and here. After the first few successful attempts cross-eyed viewing becomes quite easy. Try it yourself on my images below.

Here's my "garden" of solar powered flip-flop flowers. You can try the cross-eyed viewing technique with the images as they appear here, or click on the image to see a larger version.

I tried a different head-on view that doesn't have as much depth. Once again, click on the image to see a larger version. I've found stereo images that are more wide than high are a bit harder to see in 3D. It might help to try varying the viewing distance from the computer screen if you're having trouble seeing these rectangular images.

Here's another wide example that worked pretty well. Try clicking on the image for a larger view. I found this last stereo pair to be harder to see in 3D unless it is more isolated from nearby text and images. Clicking for the larger image may help to remove this image from surrounding distractions in the blog.

My wife has won many, many trophies during her long competitive running career. Below is one portion of her treasures. Once again, the wide images require some concentration to be perceived in 3D. Try cross-eyes on the smaller version here before clicking to get the larger version.

More running trophies!

Stay tuned for more 3D images in my next post.