P3D Yes, explain "hyper" to beginners

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>****  So why is the shrinkage factor such an important factor that we
>have to explicitly point it out? We look at ordinary photos all the time
>and don't need an explanation that the images we are viewing aren't full 
>size. We don't see a photo of a person and suggest it looks like a doll. 
>Why is there such a reaction to a stereo photo of some large object 
>which shows it at a smaller scale? 

Larry, welcome to the fascinating world of stereo photography!  :-)

You know, I object when people call stereo images an "illusion". 
I tell them that a flat picture is a worse illusion and yet no one sees 
it as an illusion.  "Here is my dad."  "Sorry, this is not your dad.  
This is a mixture of colors and shades on a piece of paper that create 
an illusion that looks like your dad."  

We have been accustomed to seeing 2D pictures since our birth and we 
see nothing strange or fascinating about them.  (But members of 
primitive tribes reacted differently when they saw their first flat 
pictures.)  

So, what is the big deal with stereo pictures that makes people call 
them "illusions"?

>Maybe it's the unfamiliar realism involved? 

You got it buddy!  Yes, "realism" is the key word.  This realism can 
be so pronounced that it scares some people.  This looks so real and 
yet I know it is not real.  Therefore it is an illusion.

>However, having said all this, I agree it can be helpful for beginners 
>to be provided explanations for stereo phenomena with which they may 
>be unfamiliar.

I am glad you do.  Here is a real story from my last public stereo 
presentation:  I showed a hyperstereo by Paul Wing, taken with a 
single camera from a boat strolling down the Rhine (some people 
collect stereos of the Rhine, I hear... :-))  After the show someone 
came up to me and said that when he saw this picture he was sure that 
it was a model and not a real scene.  And he was glad that I explained 
the "model effect" of hyperstereos because he would never have 
believed that he was looking at a real scene.

I am so used to stereo images that I am not impressed by the modeling 
ffect of hyperstereos.  But I know that primitive people (those 
unfamiliar with stereo) are impressed and I need to explain WHY and 
HOW it works the way it does.  I tell them the giant view vs. the 
little model view and I think they understand.

>Larry Berlin

George Themelis


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