P3D Complete Text of New York Times 3D on the Web article

[Eric Drysdale <edrys@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here's the article from todays New York Times
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Adding a Dimension to Web Art

                    By TINA KELLEY

 The abstract image on the yellow background of "Repetition Patterns
(detail)" undulates
slightly, disclosing new details as the viewer's head moves left and
right, while the
cursor hovers like a waterbug on the surface of the deep end of a pool.
Rick Gibson of
Vancouver, British Columbia, likes to think of the three-dimensional
artwork on his Web site  as broadcast sculpture. 

Many game sites use 3-D technology, and the Web
has hundreds of in-depth pictures, photographs and
campy designs, like a steaming cup of coffee next to
an Oreo being eaten by ants. 

Mark Newbold, a programmer, offers 3-D views of
his own front porch as well as the view looking
straight down the edge of Hubbard Park Tower in
Montpelier, Vt. He is particularly proud of his
Stereoscopic Great Dodecadodecahedron, even
including instructions for a paper model of it. Check
out a link from his page for the effects of extra
dimensions on small house pets. 

Three-dimensional technology has erupted like an alien from the belly of
1950's horror films
complete with enough toys to make any 90's consumer happy. The catalog
of Reel 3-D
Enterprises, in Culver City, Calif., offers an impressive array of 3-D
glasses, including
Deluxe Flip-Up Clip-On Polarized 3-D Glasses for $12.95. Also available
in packets of 25,
100 and 250: plain white envelopes for View-Master reels, and the blank
reel mounts
themselves, into which you can insert unmounted slides taken with
certain stereo camera
systems. And check out the point-and-shoot Loreo camera that produces
3-D visions when itsprints  are inserted into a stereo print viewer. 

Looking ahead, 3-D objects may become more commonplace on the Web,
allowing customers to see a catalogue item at different angles before
buying it. Meta Stream, an Internet technology that allows real-time
streaming of 3-D graphics, will be offered shortly by Meta Creations and
Intel. 

But most 3-D displays on the Web are purely for pleasure rather than
business. Surfing for 3-D sites is perhaps best done at home under the
cover of a heavy blanket, as darkness enhances the images. An office's
fluorescent lights can accentuate the screen's flickering -- and it can
be hard to explain those little cardboard glasses with blue and red
lenses to co-workers. Remember: red lens on left eye! 

 Some sites appear deeper than others and take less time to come into
focus. Results vary from person to person; wearers of bifocals should
sit farther from their screens. 

 Producing deep images for home pages requires just a point-and-shoot
camera, a color flatbed scanner and Adobe Photoshop. Instructions are
available at sites on the Internet. 

 3-D Spex Online, a hardware and software package for $49.95 by Nuvision
Technologies of Beaverton, Ore., includes LCD shutter glasses and
instructions for making 3-D images. 
 The glasses are available from a variety of places: American Paper
Optics of Memphis says it has made more than 40 million pairs of 3-D
glasses in the last four years. And a 3-D production artist, Roger
Mulkey, is offering free 3-D glasses to people who send
 self-addressed stamped envelopes to him at 3042 Fillmore Street, San
Francisco CA 94123.


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