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Page 1 - Background | Page 2 - Technique Some history : Stereographic images were a virtual reality in the late 19th century. They preceeded tv and cinema as a favorite pastime in homes and specialized salons, like the widespread 'Panorama International' - chain. Panorama International no:42 in Helsinki opened 31.7.1890 at Mikonkatu 1 and featured such hits as 'Along the Rein', 'Paris World Expo' and 'Current affairs', promising to take you on a journey without leaving your seat. In homes, instead of collectively watching a box, people were peeking into a stereoscope. Creating your own images wasn't all that easy, so the content were publications ; reproductions of popular motifs. The popularity of stereo images faded as people started to take their own pictures with simple-to-use non-stereo cameras and as motion pictures became the standard for alternate reality. After 17 years of operation, the Panorama International Helsinki closed in 1907 with 'San Francisco before and after the quake'. |
The ViewMaster was introduced in 1939. Stereographics has had it's ups and downs, but the ViewMaster has survived until our times. With it's appealing easy-to-use design, low cost, clever format and publications aimed for children, it has lived alongside the stereo b-movies of the 50's, the coming of IMAX - theatres and computer based imaging. New disks are still being published. More detailed history : Evolution of 3D Technologies by Sadeg M. Faris, courtesy of VREX Inc. Stereo basics : The quality of stereographic images and their content was never vary stable. Many productions seem to have been made in a hurry, without really using the various ways of creating a stereo composition. It isn't just point-and-shoot. In time, painters and illustrators have learnt to use a variety of methods, called monocular depth cues to create an illusion of depth on a 2D surface. These include the use of,for example, size, perspective, and shadowing to fool our brain. Our visual perception of the world around is based on both monocular and binocular depth cues. The latter include stereopsis, seeing two different images at once and processing them in parallel to sense depth and distance. Knowing the basics of these two types of depth cues will give you a broader scale for stereographic expression. |