Anaglyph

An anaglyph consists of two slightly different views of the same scene printed in different colors, generally red and cyan (blue-green). When viewed through special glasses, the different views appear to fuse into a single three-dimensional image. To make your own glasses, you will need cardboard, scotch tape, and red and cyan light filters (available at most camera shops). Cut the cardboard into a rectangle that measures 18 cm by 7 cm (about 7 in by 3.5 in). Cut two holes in the rectangle, each about the size of a quarter and roughly 6 cm (2.5 in) apart, then tape the colored filters over the holes. Hold the rectangle up to your face so that the red filter covers your right eye and the cyan filter covers your left eye. The colored lenses will filter detail in the anaglyph, delivering two slightly different images to your brain. Your brain fuses the two images into one three-dimensional image.

Dimension 3

Anaglyphs use color and filters to create the illusion of depth in motion pictures, photographs, and illustrations. An anaglyph consists of two slightly different views of the same scene printed in different colors, generally red and cyan (blue-green), then superimposed onto one another.

To appear 3-D, anaglyphs must be viewed through special glasses that have lenses of two different colors, generally red and cyan. The red lens filters the red image so that only the cyan image passes through the lens, and the cyan lens filters the cyan image so that only the red image passes through the lens. The brain receives the two separate images from the eyes and fuses them into one 3-D image.

French scientist Louis Ducos du Hauron patented a process for making anaglyphic photographs in 1891. By 1903, French film industry pioneers Louis and Auguste Lumière had successfully demonstrated anaglyphic motion pictures.

In the 1920s anaglyphic 3-D films called plastigrams enjoyed a boom in New York and other major American cities. These early anaglyphic motion pictures were printed on one strip of film coated with emulsion on both sides. The red image was printed on one side, and the cyan or green image on the other. In 1935 a short anaglyphic movie called Audioscopiks became the first 3-D film seen nationwide.

The anaglyph boom proved short-lived, however. The process did not lend itself well to color photographs and movies, which were quickly becoming standard. Moreover, many viewers complained that viewing anaglyphic images and films caused eye discomfort.

Nonetheless, certain applications remain popular. Anaglyphic comic books and cartoon art are favorites of many comic book enthusiasts. Between 1975 and 1982, the Viking space probes took thousands of anaglyphic photos of the surface of Mars. Technological innovations have made color anaglyphs more effective. Many 3-D films from the 1950s have been converted to color anaglyphs for television viewing, and anaglyphs sporadically appear in magazines or other mediums.

IV

POLARIZED 3-D IMAGES