STATE-OF-THE-ART LEEP STEREOSCOPE

Photo by Ulrich Figge

VERY WIDE FIELD STEREOSCOPE Method and System Patented 1983. First demonstrated publicly in 1984/85 at the Boston Museum of Science. Part of the permanent exhibit at the San Francisco Exploratorium since 1986. The museum version is mounted on three legs and has internal illumination. This hand-held version relies on a diffuser that must be held up to a light source.

The field of view of these optics is so great (140 degrees laterally if peering sideways through the eye lens opening is allowed) that there is no stereo "window." The effect is called "stepping through the window" by the manufacturer and only source, POP-OPTIX LABS. Stereo aficionados should note that the lenses are so large that interpupillary adjustment is quite unnessary.

These optics were used by NASA in 1985 in the Head-Mounted Displays, or HMDs, that sparked the Virtual Reality enthusiasm of the nineties. They were used in almost all the early head-mounted viewers.

The stereo transparencies required for this stereoscope are quite special, requiring a camera of unique design and of such manufacturing difficulty that only three were ever shipped.

The present viewer is being made a few at a time, and is shipped with a selection of 6 stereo duplicates. It is likely that an additional selection of slides will be made available. It is also possible that a new camera, more manufacturable, will be introduced.

Price..........$940.00

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