Blue Print for a Stereogram

[pauland]

I find it best to defocus my eyes and wait for my brain to see the image - sometimes this is quick, sometimes not.. and it is not a constant for any one image, sometimes an easy one becomes difficult

too close does not work any more than too far away, we are all different in this respect

+1

I look at the image but do not attempt to focus - I relax my gaze - after a few moments the image will pop. It's most important not to focus or attempt to concentrate - a bit like daydreaming into the distance.

[handrawn]

a bit like daydreaming into the distance.

that I can relate to ...

[gwpriester]

The main reason why most people cannot see stereogram images, assuming their eyes are reasonably healthy, is they focus directly on the image as they would a printed image or an image on the screen. It is impossible to see a stereogram if you do this. As pointed out, by letting your eyes relax, maybe slightly blurring your vision by getting close to the image then slowly pulling away, the eyes and the brain will diverge the repeating panels into the illusion of 3D. Or something like that.

[Chris M]

Ludwig van Beethoven, the famous renaissance artist and inventor of 3D painting, stated that it's a scientific fact that hyper intelligent, overly good looking and supremely charming people find it impossible to see the image.
On a side note: Gypsy Joe and myself can't see the images.

[handrawn]

you sure you don't mean Bullwinkle

[gwpriester]

Chris and Joe - Do you have reasonably OK eyes? I did have one person ask me if he, with one eye, could see my images, I said no.

But otherwise I have rarely met anyone, charming or otherwise who cannot learn to see stereooptically.

Relax your focus to the point where your vision is slightly blurry. Stare at the attached two dots, full size. Relax your eyes and see if the two dots don't drift together and become three dots.

If you can do this, then you can see stereograms.

[Chris M]

Observations staring at the dots:
I used a stopwatch and can go for 50 seconds+- a few before my eyes involuntary flick around in search of something more exciting.
The only effect I see is a slight white 'ghosting' of the black dots. Interestingly, these ghosts both gravitate towards the middle, roughly half off each dot.
When I consciously try to de-focus or go slightly cross-eyed the dots do indeed become 3 as the image becomes 2 separate images. The effect is momentary as the images are in motion until they settle in the pic below.

I wear weak reading glasses for, er, reading, but don't need them for driving/normal walking around. I can read this thread without glasses, but the text is noticeably crisper with them.

[handrawn]

when I look at Gary's dots and defocus I can some times see three and sometimes four [all in the same box] dots

stereo vision is a brain function [as in fact is most vision] the eyes only feed in the basics... so as gary says, most people can probably learn thiis; but there are some who's brain is not wired this way, I knew a guy who's job involved using a stereoscope to view 3D topography from ariel photos, but he could never see them; his clinician said he never would, his brain had not developed in that direction.. a rule of thumb test of this would be how good are you at judging depth/distance - if you are good, then you should be able to learn... the guy in question was so bad he could not drive safely, and was always misjudging when he placed things...

[Chris M]

I can drive as safely as any Australian and I have no problem placing things, but i am rubbish at guessing distance and areas. I can't visualise acres, hectares or even floor area in metres. My little friend trapped in the GPS always says turn left in 800 metres - 300 metres - NOW YOU FOOL! Quite often followed by 'recalculating'.

Maybe you're on to something handrawn.

[Egg Bramhill]

Here's a screen grab of what I see Chris