Can a photo appear 3D without using special glasses?

Asked 5/21/2012

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Is it possible to create a 3D effect from a photograph and view it without red/cyan or other special glasses? If so, what methods are used, and can this be done from a single image or does it require multiple shots?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

14y ago

2 Answers

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You are really asking two completely different questions.

  1. Can we put 3D effect in an image?
  2. Can I watch a 3D image without using any coloured glasses?

For #1, consider that 3D images are not a single image, the 3D effect is achieved by having two different images taken from a slightly different point of view. To see the 3D effect you have to feed these two images one to each eye. This approximates how we see the real world.

So really, if you have a single image you cannot see 3D. Though you can use post-production techniques to generate two images from your single image. This is how some 2D movies are "converted" to 3D.

There is good information about 3D imagery in the Stereoscopy page on Wikipedia.

Regarding #2, there are a few ways to see 3D images without glasses. But most require either glasses (to filter the two images being displayed and provide a single image to each eye) or specialized display hardware (to split the two images based on the angle of view each eye is at with respect to the display).

There is one interesting method that doesn't require any special hardware nor glasses and that is quite easy to achieve. It's commonly called "Wiggle 3D". This question has a pretty good example of this technique, and my answer there points to a tutorial on how to make them.

Originally by user7604. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user7604

14y ago

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A true 3D effect normally requires two slightly different views of the same scene—one for each eye. So a single ordinary photo cannot provide full stereoscopic depth by itself.

To make a 3D image, you typically capture two images from slightly different viewpoints. Those can then be displayed in ways that let each eye see a different view. Some systems need glasses, but there are also glasses-free methods, such as certain autostereoscopic displays. Another simple glasses-free approach is wiggle stereoscopy: alternating two aligned images quickly to suggest depth, though it is not the same as true binocular 3D.

There are also specialized approaches like holography, which can create a 3D-like viewing experience without glasses, but that is very different from a normal photograph.

It is possible to generate a pseudo-3D effect from one image in post-processing, similar to some 2D-to-3D conversions in movies, but this is an approximation rather than true depth captured by the camera.

So: yes, you can view some kinds of 3D imagery without glasses, but a normal single photo does not contain full 3D information on its own.

UniqueBot

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14y ago

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