Over the last couple of years I have been “playing around” with 3D anaglyph images. The interest in this technology developed from working with QuickTime Virtual reality tours using a series of images which are sticked together. The first VR rig I made consisted of a piece of bent metal, a bolt and protractor. This was in 1999 and was used by some of my students to create tours of some of our buildings at schools. The VR’s that they created were remarkably good. Searching on the internet I came across a reference to 3D anaglyph VR’s. Instead of mounting one camera on a tripod it was a simple matter of mounting two cameras.
Several years later I took some of this technology to Antarctica where I was developing a teaching resource about Scott Base (http://www.antarctica.school.nz). It also provided an opportunity to create 3D still images in a range of areas in Antarctica including the Dry Valleys – an incredible environment and a privilege to be able to visit.
More recently I finally got around to trialling making 3D videos. There are a number of approaches to this including some very clever camera attachments you can either make or purchase.
Since then I have also experimented with creating simple mechanisms to mount cameras on to take stereo pairs for use in either stereographs or to create anaglyphs. A simple draw slider costing $5 can be turned into a camera mount which you can use to reposition the camera to take a stero pair. I have also been experimenting with creating simple stereo viewers using $2 shop glasses and some customwood.
The possibilities for the classroom are numerous. Students thinking can be extended for instance by getting them to look at the concept of parallax. – an idea which relates to the way the eye can see objects: “The difference in the angle of sight between the right eye and the left eye creates parallax, or the viewing angle, which makes it possible to locate an object in 3D space.” Parallax becomes particularly important when creating the 3D videos!
There are also opportunity to explore historical aspects of images or early NZ. I am fortunate to have many hundreds of stereograph photos which belonged to my great grandmother, many of them photos of NZ in the 1900’s. I am now in the process of scanning these and using them in some of my teaching. Such images could also be used to compare changes in society or could be developed into a story book.
Early stereographs can also be turned into anaglyphs.
An early stereograph showing the original location of the clock tower (now moved to Victoria Street)
and the anaglyph image created from the stereo pair.