P3D Re: DIRDS not SIRDS

[Larry Berlin <lberlin@xxxxxxxxx>]

>Date: Mon, 29 Dec 1997
>From: "Dr. George A. Themelis" writes:
>
>Larry Berlin writes:
>    
>>****  The other side of the story is how something as obvious and simple
>>as this escapes public notice for so many years due to a closed minded
>>dependence on viewing devices. 
>
>Now, just a minute....
>
>Random dot stereograms were documented to be created as far back as 
>1909. .......................
>
>You seem to be blaming the "researchers" (scientists?) and the viewing
>devices (viewers) for not making SIRDS more popular earlier in the
>history of stereo viewing. 

*****  Not at all. I'm only referring to the apparent delay between the idea
of a double image stereogram and the realization of the single image
stereogram. Researchers claimed that the pattern *cannot* be seen without a
stereoscope. Use of a stereoscope exclusively doesn't easily suggest placing
the patterns close together repeatedly... Freeviewing makes that an obvious
extension.

Popularity of stereograms is indeed another thing completely.


> But it was a scientist that built the
>first stereoscope and without it the world would not have known 
>about stereo photography.  It was another scientist who improved the
>viewer and made stereo photography more popular.  Convenient and
>easy to use viewing devices are advancing the popularity of
>stereoscopic imaging.  
>
>Most of the people that I ask, cannot see SIRDS.

****  Steteograms went a lot farther in a short time for promotion of stereo
imaging than stereo photography had gone in a long time. The realization
that stereo imaging was available WITHOUT the necessity of some special and
most often rare device, was quite a revelation to most of the population.
Sure, not everyone figured it out, but thousands made the awakening leap
from accepting the lack of stereo 3D in the general media due to not having
special devices, to realizing they didn't need special devices. That by
itself was part of the driving force of the popularity phenomena.

Today you will find very few people who haven't heard of or tried to view a
stereogram. Whether or not they were successful, they have some idea what
you are talking about. That opens the door of understanding when you start
talking about stereo images.

>
>>So, take a look around you at your stereo tools and treasures. Hidden in
>>plain sight are a number of useful and potentially exciting discoveries
>>waiting to be noticed... 
>
>Like what? :-)  It is easy to make general statements like this but
>harder to find exactly what is there to be discovered or take something
>that has been discovered and make it a commercial success.
>

**** What do you mean, *like what?* Just start being more aware, and maybe
you'll notice it. Hidden in plain sight is just that. Hidden because of
familiarity with one's perceived limits. Accepting *what is* blindly as if
that's all there is instead of seeing logical connections. When you stop
looking at the limits as limits, you can go beyond them to obvious
connections otherwise not noticed. That's how simple advances remain unfound
for years even with thousands of persons working with the same basic
information. That's part of why stereo technology is only now crawling out
of the cave age of ignorance, despite the fact that for umpteen thousands of
years humans have had two eyes. Most of that time we (collectively) painted
pictures in mono mode. It's about time our imaging systems caught up to the
Space age level of other technologies. Proof of what I'm saying is all
around us and is so obvious most don't see it. Thankfully some are getting
the idea. Most on this list are at least stereo aware, and therefore among
the group most likely to surpass previous limits.

I'm speaking from my own awareness revelations directly related to stereo
imaging. If you want it spelled out for you, you'll have to wait till I get
more of it written, programmed, and otherwise recorded for distribution. Or
you can spell it for yourself with your own revelations. I'm sure you have
quite a few of your own!!! Only a stereo aware person can go beyond
previously perceived limits. It's a fact that such persons are relatively
rare in the general population, though thanks to stereograms there are
thousands more of them now than would have existed without stereogram
popularity.

BTW, anyone on the list working with JAVA yet? Aware of the new JAVA3D API?
... :-)

OR with NuVision's advances (completely free) that allow page flipping
stereo on any Windows computer without the special need for a stereo
specific video card? AND their new browser plug-in for viewing JPS images?

Larry Berlin

Email: lberlin@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.sonic.net/~lberlin/
http://3dzine.simplenet.com/


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