h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: 3D Stereograms - A2307269
Author: Farlander - Hitman III: Contracts hits stores in April! - U206300

erm, here i go again...

i'd be grateful if somebody with a more solid foundation in physics looked through this, because i left it all behind when i left school . and although i've tried to proofread this as thoroughly as possible, i'm sure there are still typos. so...

and just for the record: yeah, i can see 3d pictures.

Physics ain't my bag, but this all reads OK to me. (I'm not a proof-reader though. I just read for legability and understanding.)

thanks! do you think i should include an example of an ascii stereogram, or do you think that would make people go cross-eyed?

I think an ASCII autostereogram would be cool!

It looks to me as if the paragraph "Why can I see in 3D" should be moved to much earlier in the entry, since it explains how normal 3d vision works. Perhaps put it right at the start after the introduction.

You might like to mention in the hints on looking at autostereograms, that the process involves doing two contradictory things: the eyeballs must turn to point at an imaginary object in the distance, but the lenses in the eyes must focus on the page, which is closer than the imaginary object. It is this conflict that makes it so hard for people without practice.

Some typos:

Land improved on du Haron's --> Land to improve on du Haron's
holograms) --> holograms).

If you're going to mention lenticular pictures, it should surely be mentioned that the first (hardback) edition of Douglas Adams's "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish" featured on its cover a lenticular picture of a seal/plesiosaur, for no adequately explored reason.

Hiya

Looking at it, the "science bit" seemed fine.

For those who don't know what a camera obscura is (ie me before i went to edinburgh last year) you could put a link to the site www.camera-obscura.co.uk. It says website coming soon at the moment, but i'm guessing that there'll be one up soon. Or maybe add a footnote about them.

I've not checked all the links but ftp://katz.anu.edu.au/pub/stereograms
doesn't seem to work, it sent me to a BBC error page.

Apart from that a really great article

SallyM

hi,

gnomon - thanks, i'll move that paragraph. er... where exactly do you think it should go? before the history bit? re: doing contradictory things - is that the method you normally use? i find that doing stuff people at magic eye inc. recommend doesn't work for me. so what i do is this: i stare at the stereogram, and then actually - consciously - *force* my eyes to diverge. kinda like keeping one eye anchored and the other roaming.

thanks sally, thanks member - i'll insert all that into the article asap. member, have you a picture of the said edition? i've never actually seen any of the old editions (save for the 1st ed of hhg) - i guess i was born way too late.

My way of seeing the picture is very conscious.

1. I look at a point in the picture.

2. I imagine the point to be sinking deeper into the picture and follow it with my eyes, causing them to diverge and re-focus. I do this until two (blurred) objects in the picture are now coinciding.

3. Keeping the divergence of my eyes constant by keeping the two objects lined up, I re-focus my lenses until the two coincident objects become clear and the 3-D picture suddenly jumps out at me.

well, i usually tell people to try all the different methods of viewing it. most of them usually wind up thinking that i'm delusional and in serious need of psychiatric help.

-ahem-

er, gnomon, you suggested earlier that i move the section 'why can i see in 3d?' up; could you suggest a specific place? i've tried different permutations, but all of them look a bit funny

It should go just before the section "The History of 3D Stereograms". You might have to reword it very slightly to make it fit there.

will do. i'll go fiddle with those sections and see if i can get them to fit next to each other. thanks!

I think this is excellent, and I have only one suggestion which you can take or leave...

Have you seen Mallrats? One charater spends the whole film staring at a stereogram of a sailing boat deseprately trying to see it. I can't remember what he says, but it's something like "I've brought a snack and a drink and I'm not leaving until I see the sailboat" or something like that. I'm sure it'll be on the net somewhere. Might be a nice quote to put somewhere, but certainly not essential.

Otto

I found your Mallrats quote.

T.S. Quint: Oh yeah, look it's a sailboat.
Willam Black: You saw it, too?! Damn it!
T.S. Quint: What?
Willam Black: I've been staring at this thing for a week now - from opening 'til closing - and I can't see a Goddamn thing!


Actually I must confess I hate these stereogram image things with a passion. I have *never* seen an image at any time despite trying again and again

Gosh I'd almost forgotten that I wrote this thing! What is/are Mallrats, Otto, a sitcom? I'd love to put the quote in if I can find a suitable place for it; I'm not sure how the eds would feel about the word 'goddam' though!

Oh and Desk - I never could see those darned things either... until one day I saw the Disney MagicEye book at the bookstore - and Mickey Mouse's head popped out right before my eyes. Up until that point I was *convinced* that I didn't have stereovision!

I'm on a bit of a "sort PR threads by time since last post" mission at the moment!

"Mallrats" is a Kevin Smith film in his "New Jersey" series of films which also includes Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. They're all cult comedies....

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0113749/

I maintain that *everyone* has to see Clerks. Mallrats is less good, but I like it!

I've inserted that quote into the 'Why can I see stereograms? Or why can't I' bit - thanks Otto, and thanks Desk!

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Well done!

congratulations, Farlander!