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From: winston@merk.com (Winston Smith)
Subject: Re: Another 3-D ascii stereogram
Message-ID: <CqLxsH.Ms2@merk.com>
Keywords: 3D, unfocus, stereogram, cross-eyed
Organization: Technology Partners, Inc.
References: <1994May26.202536.26156@enterprise.rdd.lmsc.lockheed.com>
Date: Mon, 30 May 1994 08:48:13 GMT
Lines: 24


How to view a 3-D ascii stereogram... 
 
     Hmm...  you know, at first I tried to view those stereograms by
crossing my eyes.  It took me roughly five to ten minutes to get my eyes
crossed enough, then my eyes would uncross with a "snap" and I would lose
the image.  I thought that everyone was kidding when they said to unfocus
your eyes, but I went ahead and tried it.  I looked at the --ENTIRE-- wall
behind my computer screen, trying to view the wall as a whole, pushing my
field of vision out towards the edges of the wall so that I would view the
entire plane of the wall at once.  I then slowly rocked my head from side
to side like a snake charmer so that I could judge the parallax of the
figure on the screen.  Lo and behold, it actually worked!  It worked in
about fifteen seconds, rather than the minutes it previously required.  The
funny thing about it though, is that when I look at the 3-D surfer, instead
of seeing one image of a surfer that I would see when I "cross" my eyes, I
now see --TWO-- images of the surfer, both of which are in 3-D!  Weird!
The nice thing about this technique is that I can keep my eyes unfocused
for longer periods than I could keep them crossed, and it doesn't take as
much effort.  It feels as if you are meditating.  Hmm...  I wonder if you
are suppose to do this when viewing a mandala in eastern religions.  The
mandala is a repeated pattern around a stereo axis of symmetry.  Hmm...
these stereograms go back farther than I thought....