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Stereograms never really worked for me, but this seems like a good place to share a related story. Tool released an album with a bunch of stereo optic album ar

Stereograms never really worked for me, but this seems like a good place to share a related story. Tool released an album with a bunch of stereo optic album art back in 2005 or so, with built-in glasses to go with them. I was home, sick, with time to spare, and tried to make these work. People online said they could see the images in 3D immediately, but it would take me 5-10 minutes of staring to make each page pop with depth. After I put the album down, I looked around, and - holy shit - the room around me was in 3D, like the stereo optic photos and art. The effect faded after a few minutes. That's when it occurred to me that I'm some kind of stereoblind. I have depth perception, but it's almost like my brain uses an inefficient algorithm. The only time I naturally see depth that pops like that is when I'm looking out at vast, vast spaces - driving around the American southwest, for example. I'm the only one in my immediate family who doesn't need glasses. My vision is sharp, it's good at night, and I often joked about how the 80s/90s idea that TV ruins your eye sight was a myth. I think the joke is on me. Because I didn't spend enough time focusing on far away things, I never learned to relax my eyes that way, and Magic Eye never really worked for me. I like to think that explains why I sucked at sportsball (although did okay with soccer) Back to when that Tool album came out - weeks later, I heard a story on NPR about a doctor who was challenging the accepted theory that if you don't develop depth perception by age 8, the synaptic paths are set, and you can never develop depth perception. By setting up a string, with beads placed a couple of inches apart, attach it to the wall, and then every morning, and stare at each bead... And people were able to learn depth perception! I didn't ever set that up. Sometimes, through an old mirror, I can see depth. It's wild. But, for no good reason, I can't be bothered to practice on a string of beads, or whatever. Don't spend too much time in front of screens, boys and girls. Go outside and play.

flobosg 5y ago
The album is 10,000 Days, by the way.
robga 5y ago
Various eye conditions can cause binocular vision issues. People can be unaware of a mild condition. They can have 20/20 vision. Have you taken any binocular vision tests? Eg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worth_4_dot_test https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worth_4_dot_test It’s why I can’t see stereograms. In normal vision my brain gives up. I only see through my left eye. The neurological strain of convergence is over a threshold and my brain decides to just use one eye. If I cover my left eye, then I see through my right eye. It’s particularly annoying as my left eye has worse vision, with two other later developed conditions. A small grace is that I believe it improves my photography. People say I have a “good eye”. Ironic. You may have noticed people often squint, close an eye, or tilt their head when framing. This is to disturb depth perception and better predict a 2D rendering. It’s just how I see. I’m also very clumsy. Maybe that’s why. It’s hard to evaluate causation. Get your eyes tested for this …
- leviathant 5y ago
  It's been a very long time since I've done any vision tests, but I remember something like that, and I'd passed all my vision tests with flying colors - admittedly, that was over two decades ago. I definitely process vision from both of my eyes, but it's kind of difficult to describe. It's almost like there's kind of an overlay between the two scenes outside of the focal point - but it's not nearly as distracting or disorienting as that sounds. I'm getting all the data, I'm just not assembling it correctly. The small grace for me is that traditional 3D shooters never made me feel disoriented. However, when I tried Half Life 2 on an early Oculus Rift, I got simulation sickness pretty bad - felt nauseous for a good 45 minutes after playing for about 5 minutes :|
nowahe 5y ago
Having a really good ability of viewing them, I feel like it relies on two separate skills : - Fine voluntary control of your eyes' accommodation - Ability for whatever system is creating your depth perception to be more "flexible", in the sense that it can more easily "lock" onto a depth perspective as well as switching between them. Thinking about it now, I'm not even sure how much voluntary control people normally have over their eyes' accommodation, if not exposed to experiences that forces them to practice it. I can definitely remember a time where I was not able to focus my eyes at will, which makes me think that it's not something the majority of people can do (granted it was when I was a child, so it might just be something you learn with age).
- leviathant 5y ago
  Yeah - I can cross my eyes on command because I clowned around as a kid. And I can actually get "Magic Eye" stuff to kind of work that way, it's just inverted... What I can't do is spread my eyes wider (I think the insensitive term is "go wall eyed") on command. I'm not cross-eyed at rest or anything like that, but the motor skills to widen the distance between my two pupils (The way you would when you're looking at something far away) just isn't well developed.

flobosg 5y ago

The album is 10,000 Days, by the way.

robga 5y ago

Various eye conditions can cause binocular vision issues. People can be unaware of a mild condition. They can have 20/20 vision. Have you taken any binocular vision tests? Eg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worth_4_dot_test https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worth_4_dot_test It’s why I can’t see stereograms. In normal vision my brain gives up. I only see through my left eye. The neurological strain of convergence is over a threshold and my brain decides to just use one eye. If I cover my left eye, then I see through my right eye. It’s particularly annoying as my left eye has worse vision, with two other later developed conditions. A small grace is that I believe it improves my photography. People say I have a “good eye”. Ironic. You may have noticed people often squint, close an eye, or tilt their head when framing. This is to disturb depth perception and better predict a 2D rendering. It’s just how I see. I’m also very clumsy. Maybe that’s why. It’s hard to evaluate causation. Get your eyes tested for this …

leviathant 5y ago
It's been a very long time since I've done any vision tests, but I remember something like that, and I'd passed all my vision tests with flying colors - admittedly, that was over two decades ago. I definitely process vision from both of my eyes, but it's kind of difficult to describe. It's almost like there's kind of an overlay between the two scenes outside of the focal point - but it's not nearly as distracting or disorienting as that sounds. I'm getting all the data, I'm just not assembling it correctly. The small grace for me is that traditional 3D shooters never made me feel disoriented. However, when I tried Half Life 2 on an early Oculus Rift, I got simulation sickness pretty bad - felt nauseous for a good 45 minutes after playing for about 5 minutes :|

nowahe 5y ago

Having a really good ability of viewing them, I feel like it relies on two separate skills : - Fine voluntary control of your eyes' accommodation - Ability for whatever system is creating your depth perception to be more "flexible", in the sense that it can more easily "lock" onto a depth perspective as well as switching between them. Thinking about it now, I'm not even sure how much voluntary control people normally have over their eyes' accommodation, if not exposed to experiences that forces them to practice it. I can definitely remember a time where I was not able to focus my eyes at will, which makes me think that it's not something the majority of people can do (granted it was when I was a child, so it might just be something you learn with age).

leviathant 5y ago
Yeah - I can cross my eyes on command because I clowned around as a kid. And I can actually get "Magic Eye" stuff to kind of work that way, it's just inverted... What I can't do is spread my eyes wider (I think the insensitive term is "go wall eyed") on command. I'm not cross-eyed at rest or anything like that, but the motor skills to widen the distance between my two pupils (The way you would when you're looking at something far away) just isn't well developed.