sentience is a software library that allows for robotic stereo vision using stereo webcams (like Minoru 3D, which is of British origin despite its Japanese name), and is written in C#. Meanwhile, ARToolKit is one of the most widely-employed augmented reality software frameworks (and is also, like sentience, FOSS).
Tag Archives: glasses
Stereopsis is an effect that allows for the eyes + brain to perceive depth, and is utilized in an optical illusion that, when equipped with the right method of visual perception, allows for the viewer to perceive a sense of depth in an otherwise flat surface area.
Many methods have been devised since the 19th century to give off an illusion of depth in a media-dedicated flat surface area (a technique known as stereoscopy), ranging from "wiggle stereoscopy" to the manual side-by-side-so-cross-your-eyes stereoscopy to the iconic anaglyph image + polarized "red and blue" glasses.
Most recently, a few folks on YouTube took to demonstrating the combination of anaglyph imagery and polarized 3D glasses with MIT graduate Johnny Chung Lee’s WiiMote headtracking method (resulting in hundreds of demo videos on YouTube from inspired users) to demostrate how such a combination of anaglyph imagery with headtracking might work.
Sadly, I’m not convinced by the look of the videos. Plus, after thinking it through, I ‘ve started to think that it seems redundant to combine digital CGI anaglyphs with headtracking polarized glasses.
I mean, if you demonstrate Compiz Fusion with its Wiimote-recognition plugin for headtracking separately from Compiz Fusion with its anaglyph filter plugin for polarized glasses, you get a fairly stereoscopic view from either perception; in fact, the Wiimote plugin for headtracking seems to possess much further potential range depending upon the range of motion that the viewer has around the screen, while the Wiimote anaglyph plugin for polarized glasses gives the classic feel of being able to almost reach inside the imagery on the screen.
The drawbacks, therefore, may dedicate either method of perception to particular media and particular audiences:
- the Wiimote headtracking method may be best for visual environments – preferably 2.5D – which concurrently allow for manipulation of the environment’s contents through interactive controls (like games)
- the anaglyph method may be best for visual environments – namely 2D – which don’t allow for manipulation of the environment’s contents through interactive controls (like movies).
I’ll expand upon this a bit later, but here are the two demos posted to YouTube:
