What Is a Stereoscope?
Some stereoscope applications are still in use today. Stereoscopes use principles associated with human vision to produce entertaining still-life images that appear three-dimensional. Photographic and particularly motion picture technology largely displaced stereoscopes as entertainment media, although in one particular modern incarnation the stereoscope is still commonplace.
You Likely Know Without Knowing So
If you live in the U.S., and are old enough to read this, you've probably used a stereoscope. Although nowadays one finds antique stereoscopes only in historical exhibits, society still uses some stereoscopic technology applications. You'll likely find one in most homes with children. Can you figure out what as you read?
That's Entertainment
Invented in 1838 by Charles Wheatstone as a means to enhance the realism of two-dimensional images, a stereoscope is a simple viewing device. Preceding invention of photography, stereoscopes first made use of drawn (sketched) images. Later, these devices used photographed images. In a day before motion picture entertainment existed, stereoscopes soon became a popular entertainment choice. Many home-use stereoscopes had an updated design invented by Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Based on Principles of Binocular Vision
The stereoscope is based on the principles of binocular vision. Human vision operates by taking different two dimensional images, one from each eye, and transmitting the separate images to the brain. The brain unites those images into a three-dimensional pattern. Stereoscopes operate by mimicking the function of human vision.
Description of the Stereoscope
A stereoscope uses a set of lenses and a set of pictures. For each scene to be enjoyed, the stereoscope employed two drawings or, later, two photographs of the same thing, set into a box-like container. The images represented what, respectively, the left and right eye would see if one actually looked at the drawn or photographed object. Positioned inside the stereoscope about two inches apart, or about the same distance between someone's left and right eye, and viewed through the stereoscope's lenses, the stereoscope provided the illusion of a three-dimensional image. One may sometimes find stereoscopes called stereopticons or stereo viewers. The specially designed image cards were called stereographs.
Impact of Motion Pictures
From the 1840s to the 1930s, stereoscope viewing enjoyed considerable popularity. The rise of motion picture entertainment, however, resulted in decline of the stereoscope's popularity. However, the later 20th century saw resurgence of stereoscopic technology in a few modified ways. One of those ways went hand-in-hand with motion picture technology.
Modern Uses of Stereoscope Technology
Have you figured out in what form you know stereoscopic technology? The most common modern use of stereoscopic technology was, in fact, ranked one of the top 50 toys of the 20th century, though its original use wasn't as a toy at all. The ViewMaster 3D viewing device that most children from the 1950s on grew up with is, in fact, a kind of stereoscope. The earliest ViewMasters were actually marketed as tourist souvenirs rather than toys. The other modern use of stereoscope technology is 3D glasses that enable people to experience computer-generated virtual reality as a three-dimensional experience. Occasionally, the motion picture industry also creates movies designed for three-dimensional experiencing with use of similar 3D glasses.
Tags: motion picture, stereoscopic technology, 20th century, human vision, left right, motion picture entertainment, motion picture technology
