How Do 3D Glasses Actually Work?
Modern 3D Movies
Many current releases are being made in 3D. The effects and filming process make it a totally different viewing experience than a normal movie. Think of a movie like Jurassic World where the giant dinosaurs are jumping off the screen right in your face. Imagine the Star Wars villain wielding his light saber right over your head. In order to get the full experience of these 3D effects, you have to wear the strange glasses with red and blue lenses. They may not be the most fashionable eyewear, but they do allow you to take in all the great 3D effects. Have you ever wondered how 3D glasses actually work?
3D or three-dimensional glasses have what your eye doctor would refer to as stereoscopic lenses. Glasses made with these lenses feature two different lenses so that each eye can see a different part of the picture or movie. In order to see things in 3D, your brain is tricked into viewing these two images together, and the end result is an image that looks like it’s coming right off the screen.
Eye Systems
Your eyes have a binocular vision system. In other words, your brain compensates for the fact that your eyes are set about two inches apart, so each eye has a slightly different view on the world. The binocular system you have combines those two images to give you one cohesive image.
When movie producers or videographers shoot film in 3D, they have to shoot it from two slightly different angles in two different colors. Then, when the movie is produced, and the end product is a combination of both of these different perspectives in the different colors. To watch the movie in 3D, you make your binocular vision go to work. Your brain begins to filter both of these images together to create a dynamic and lifelike visual effect.
What if you don’t wear those 3D glasses? What do you see?
Have you ever tried to take off your 3D glasses? Just to see what it looks like? You may have noticed that the image on the screen is fuzzy, almost like the picture hasn’t been focused clearly. This is because both of those images, from those slightly different angles, are being shown together. Without the help of the stereoscopic glasses, your eyes don’t have the ability to separate the images and process them binocularly.
Next time you head to the theater, avoid a headache and wear your 3D glasses throughout the whole movie.
Don’t miss these new 3D movies coming out this summer!
- X-Men: Apocalypse & Alice Through the Looking Glass on May 27
- Angry Birds 2 on May 20
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 on June 3
- Independence Day: Resurgence on June 24