Lenseless 3D Technique

Note: This technique will be impossible for some people. If you have poor eye control, a dramatic disparity in eye function or anything along those lines, you may not be able to see the 3D effect no matter how much you practice.



How to do it

-Sit square in front of your monitor, with the image directly in front of you, at about arm’s length
-Sitting further back makes it easier – you don’t need to cross your eyes as much – but makes the image look smaller
-Make sure you keep your head level horizontally, tilting your head will prevent you from merging the images
-While keeping the stereo pair of images in the centre of your vision, slowly cross your eyes
-The stereo pair will go out of focus and you will seem to see four images, as shown in the animation above
-If you find it hard to cross your eyes, it can help to hold a pen in front of you and look at the tip with the stereo pair in the background
-Gradually cross your eyes more and more – if using a pen to assist, start it close to the monitor and move it towards your nose
-Continue crossing your eyes more, untill the centre two of the four images overlap and you see three blurry images, as in the animation above
-Try and hold the centre image together – it is possible to “lock” it in place and see it as one image
-The “locked” centre image should appear in 3D!
-Now the tricky part, focus – while holding the 3D image in place, relax your eyes – drop the pen from your field of view if you are using it
-If you can keep the 3D image locked and relax your eyes, it should eventually pop into focus, as in the last frame of the animation above

What you are doing here is causing your eyes to look at a space between you and the monitor, but focusing the lenses on the monitor. Our eyes never naturally need to do this, so it can be tricky to do at first.

Try and see the 3D effect yourself with the stereo pair below.