Watching 3D: What's It Doing To Our Eyes and Brains?

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Oh god those poor baby monkey, I really hope for their sake they didn't have to watch Avatar 3D on a non-stop loop for those 3 months.. It might not effect their eyes, but I would imagine it could bring on suicidal urges. I just wish the movie producers would actually invest time in fixing the issue with the actual movie content instead of having to make it 3D. Just one more case of eye candy replacing any actual watchable content..
 

bto

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Usually if you write an article that starts with a question, the question is answered. I grow tired of articles about "what if" There is no evidence either way.. It just seems so weak to bring this up with no conclusive evidence. I'm sure you could find more if you tried.
 

wiyosaya

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Unfortunately, I am unable to lay my hands on either article, however, I have read two different articles that pertain to this story.

The first stated that "motion sickness" is related to the fact that the eyes perceive motion when there is none according to the other senses like this article states and that the nausea part is likely related to the fact that poisons have the same effect, and the body thinks it consumed poison and attempts to rid itself of it.

The second article studied the effects of long-term, i.e., 5+ hours, exposure to 3d and said that there is a definite effect on the brain and perception and that it takes the brain time to re-orient to the real world, and that the researchers were concerned about this effect.

Also, I have heard that the recent spate of 3D movies to be released that include Kung-Fu Panda 2, were outsold at theaters by their 2D counterparts. My hope is that this is the decline of 3D. As I see it, 3D will be gimmick until something comes along that is like the 3D image that R2D2 projects in Star Wars IV.

As I see it, 3D is only a gimmick for manufacturers and movie houses to charge extra money for what is already built-in to the technology. Having seen Avatar in IMAX 3D and in 2D, my opinion is that the 3D added absolutely nothing to the movie. To me, it was as good without 3D.

Personally, I hope 3D fades again. If the recent results from the movie theaters in that more 2D tickets were sold than 3D are any indication, my dreams will come true. LOL
 

therandomuser

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I don't support 3D for two reasons: upfront cost and headaches. Unless we get real holograms, 3D will stay the same dual vision parlor trick it is. Plus, giving us Derpy Hooves Syndrome might not be too good for us humans.

Personally, I never figured out why it picked up or how Avatar was really good at its 3D thing. I had to take off my glasses for a quarter of the movie (on most of the slower scenes) because of the headaches it was giving me, and when I did have my glasses on, I never saw the 3D as much as I expected it. I wanted to see the tree falling dynamically, not the bloody ashes floating around the whole scene.
 

CaedenV

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OK, now I know 3D is a hot topic these days, but it isn't going to be damaging our brains any time soon. If you have not noticed most of us see things in 3D every day, and we are fine. We see 2 2D images within a 3D space which we splice together in our heads as one coherent image. Same with this 3D tech, we are seeing 2 2D images that we splice together, it is nothing new, and nothing unnatural about the general idea of this tech.
Close up I could see a problem, but it is not with 3D, it is with people with weak eyes who already have trouble with close up images, who are trying to strain to distinguish depth within a field they already have issues with.
Another potential problem is with the depth of field being different than what we are accustomed to. Every person has a different perception of depth due to the spacing of their eyes. In theory those with wider set eyes could have a less exaggerated (and perhaps more accurate?) perception of depth, while those who have close set eyes would have an opposite perception. But lets say that you have wide set eyes, and the movie is captured with lenses closer together than you are accustomed to (or the display is calibrated that way) then it would be jarring and disorienting. Sure you would adjust with time, but it could be annoying.
I went to see Avatar about 7 times at different theaters, mostly because I knew my living room wont have anything that mind blowing in the next 10 years, and also to see how the movie differed from theater to theater. And let me tell you, there were huge differences depending on where you were. Some theaters greatly exaggerated the depth of field (the images being too close together making things look deeper and skinnier than they would be in real life). Other theaters had a shallow depth of field, which I found much easier to watch, and less disorienting after leaving. One theater here in Ohio was fairly close on the depth being right, but they had a dirty spliter so there was bleed over between the 2 images which did some strange things. Now playing with how our brains see depth may cause temporary issues, but it wont be anything long term.
It reminds me of a college that used special glasses on some test subjects that made everything look upside down (we actually see upside down to begin with and our brain adjusts for this), and after a few days their brains figured out the new rules of how to process what information was being given and they were able to function normally, even playing sports. Removing the glasses after the test screwed them up again for a while, but they eventually went back to normal. If the human brain can adjust for that then I am sure a little 3D wont hurt anyone. The gimmicky and crappy shows that implement it may keep you living in your trailer park... but aside from that no harm done.
 

doorspawn

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It may just be that it's a specialist product only for those that can handle and appreciate it. A bit like a good chilli dish. Those that don't like it shouldn't try and deprive those of us that do.

I am in love with 3d - to me it's more than the difference between color and b&w - and I would love for it to enter the mainstream (sport, even just regular TV like the news and stuff like House). This way, the quality of the script will regain its importance, instead of trying real hard just for 3d effects. (I could have been blown away with avatar if it's story wasn't so thoroughly trite / shallow).

Personally, I'm not keen on parallax due to having to sit in the right place. My preference is circular polarization glasses, as they cause the least problems when looking at the real world.

One last thing: depth of field needs to be as close to infinite as possible.
 

Rab1d-BDGR

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A recent study at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands found roughly 17% of subjects experienced symptoms of nausea when exposed to 3D text at a distance three meters away.

I never had this at movies, but I used to get terrible headaches and nausea using binocular microscopes. However, after using them for a few hours each day it went after a couple of weeks. Not the most pleasant experience, but you do grow accustomed to it... eventually.
 
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yeah games also cause epilepsy. this is dumb. it depends on who you are, that is it. some can enjoy it , some cant. simple !!!!
 
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