P3D Re: 140 degree stereo viewer

[Michael Watters <mwatters@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lawrence A Haines mentions:

>Holmes-type stereoscopes, a "3D shadow" exhibit, and a 140-degree(?) stereo
>viewer.

>The wide-angle viewer used special lenses, and special photographs (that
>appeared to have "fisheye" distortion when seen other than through the lenses).
>It was a very interesting effect to see such wide-angle stereo. If I recall
>correctly, the name of the system or the company (or both) was "Pop Optix",
>and it was based in Waltham, Massachusetts. (I wrote it down somewhere, with
>the proprietor's name - if I ever find the note, I'll post it.)

AHHH!!!!   It's the return of the Leep!

I can't remember the name of the fellow who did the Leep camera (full name that is).  

It was supposed to be a really-cool immersion-like kinda thing.  The camera's
lenses took very distorted fish-eye photos.  (It was a 6x6 camera using 30mm
lenses) and the viewer's lenses had matching distortions so the resulting image
appeared "normal"  but VERY wide angle.  A sort of sad tale.  Apparently a lot
of people sent in deposits on cameras, the company folded (Not like the guy ran
off with the money, he got burned too) and only something like 6 cameras ever got
made.

If you've got copies of Stereo World from the mid-80's, there's an article or two on 

the camera.  It started out really simple, but by the end the description sounds like
some sort of all-automatic wonder-camera.  I think he over extended himself.  Should
have built the simple version and left well enough alone.

I heard a couple years ago that he'd resurrected the idea and was doing OK by building
optics for VR helmets or something like that.

mike
watters


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