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[DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:10 pm
by Johnny-Mnemonic
Hello guys!
I'm reading this forum quite a long time, however not posted here yet, I think it's right time to start Image

Recently I found for myself very exiting and marvelous way for low-cost home-brew stereoscopy! Hope you will like it too!
It's "Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles", strangely I didn't found any evidence of this tech earlier in the Internet, and no sign of it on MTBS forum also!
This is actually full-color, no-ghosting stereoscopic goggles that can be easily made at home for a price about $1! Way ahead of anaglyph tech.

Idea is simple - you know about cross-eyed method of viewing stereo-pictures, idea of these goggles is to make optical device to view cross-eyed content
from PC monitor, with which you don't need to strain your eyes. And it's actually work very well!

Image

Image

Originally construction of these goggles was published by Sergey Velichkin in “Science and Life” Russian magazine long time ago,
I've contacted author and he allowed me to translate these instructions in English to show it to you guys! :)
This technology is free to use, non commercial in any sense and with minimum effort you can approach to visual quality of industrial devices.
These goggles have they're flaws but they are so small against benefits!

Here you can find step-by-step instructions of how to make these goggles, how to use them and also pack of useful links:
http://max.in.ua/fluid_stereo_goggles.pdf


I will drop here a few pictures :)
Materials needed:
Image

Schematics with sizes:
Image

Ready prism filled with glycerol:
Image

Prism with glass-mounting
Image

Head-mounted prism
Image

Actually using these home-made goggles you can view stereoscopic pictures and movies without special software,
play Quake3 Arena in full stereo without artifacts, play Avatar game without additional drivers,
and with usage of IZ3D or DDD TriDef Ignition drivers play games like DIRT, Fallout3, CoD Modern Warfare 2 etc. In great fully passive stereo!

P.S. Just to mention - I have worked with different stereoscopic displays (Zalman, Philips), and have Vuzix VR920 at home :)

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:22 pm
by cybereality
Hmm, thats interesting. Not the most practical solution, for sure, but still a cool concept. So how does it look, though? I mean, is it much better than just free-viewing cross-eyed?

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:37 pm
by Johnny-Mnemonic
cybereality wrote:Hmm, thats interesting. Not the most practical solution, for sure, but still a cool concept. So how does it look, though? I mean, is it much better than just free-viewing cross-eyed?
Hi Cybereality!
Sure it's much better - first you does not strain your eyes, at all, so you can play hours in such setup and feel Ok.
Second - these lens capable to converge two big pictures - so full-screen stereo-pairs works like charm (it's very hard and painful to cross-eye such big picture by yourself). Actually with this prism you can converge two 22" monitors (I didn't tried this yet, my friend maximum played with such prism on 30" screen) while viewing distance to them will be like normal 50-60cm

I can tell you that while I have VR920, after I made pair of these fluid-goggles I preferably use them,
I'm continue to using VR920 only when I need actual head-mounted display or head-tracking.

It's also in some sense better than many stereo-monitors, in terms of ghosting (you have perfect picture-separation), or flickering (when we talk about active-shutters), and c'mon it's only 1$ self-made stuff :)

P.S.
You can also use it with any display, and capabilities like resolution, colors, etc. will depend from your screen.
I'm using these goggles with my 22" screen, and with my 9" eeePC, working ok on usual distances from screen.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:27 am
by crim3
I only can say.... excellent!!
I like the concept a lot. I'm going to try it out as soon as possible. Thanks for posting.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 6:30 am
by Johnny-Mnemonic
crim3 wrote:I'm going to try it out as soon as possible. Thanks for posting.
You welcome! :D

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:37 am
by Likay
Cool find!
Just adding: The iz3d driver can be used for side-by-side or with dual screens and the dual vga-option.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:51 am
by Johnny-Mnemonic
Likay wrote:Cool find!
Just adding: The iz3d driver can be used for side-by-side or with dual screens and the dual vga-option.
I will try to test it with two monitors.
Will be interesting to see prisms from other peoples :)

Actually fluid-based prism is easier you can make at home, and it demonstrates principle quite well!
But it also can be done from solid organic-glass, you can make it thinner, and lighter and smaller.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:11 am
by Okta
Is there any keystone or color spectrum separation with these?

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:18 am
by Johnny-Mnemonic
Okta wrote:Is there any keystone or color spectrum separation with these?
With prism that I built there is some very small chromatic effect noticeable around bright white objects.
[Edited] There's also some keystone effect, but if your prism itself is parallel to the monitor surface this effect is barely noticeable.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:33 am
by Okta
What have you found as the best method to cut the plastic? Just run a sharp knife over it until its through? Cd plastic is pretty brittel and prone to crack.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:41 am
by Johnny-Mnemonic
Okta wrote:What have you found as the best method to cut the plastic? Just run a sharp knife over it until its through? Cd plastic is pretty brittel and prone to crack.
General Idea is to run a few times with knife along metal-line, to cut about half of plastic thickness, and then to broke it along this line.
But you need to be very gentle while breaking it, also you can cut-off thick parts of CD box first with cutting pliers, and then start to run lines with knife.

Also, break plastic with hands by making slow pushes.

All this worked for me fine, but first transparent part I broke while trained :?

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:21 am
by Borg_Rootan
Amazing!! Really smart and usable idea 8)

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 8:11 pm
by wuhlei
This is the best diy I seen so far! thank you

What about fiber optics is it too expensive?

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 11:26 pm
by Johnny-Mnemonic
Borg_Rootan, wuhley, thanks guys! :)
I dont know about fiber optics, but I want to make such prism from organic glass somewhere at spring-summer.

Played Assasins-Creed with IZ3D side-by-side driver, and this prism, pretty amazing :woot

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 3:39 am
by Okta
Johnny-Mnemonic wrote:Borg_Rootan, wuhley, thanks guys! :)
I dont know about fiber optics, but I want to make such prism from organic glass somewhere at spring-summer.

Played Assasins-Creed with IZ3D side-by-side driver, and this prism, pretty amazing :woot
It would be nice if the iz3d side by side driver had borders so the aspect ratio wasnt mangled.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 3:58 am
by Johnny-Mnemonic
Okta wrote:It would be nice if the iz3d side by side driver had borders so the aspect ratio wasnt mangled.
It is already have! :)

I've also tried DDD Ignition driver but it's without borders.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 4:10 am
by Okta
Johnny-Mnemonic wrote:
Okta wrote:It would be nice if the iz3d side by side driver had borders so the aspect ratio wasnt mangled.
It is already have! :)

I've also tried DDD Ignition driver but it's without borders.
It does? I tried v1.10 yesterday and it doesnt.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 6:00 am
by relaxman
does this solution work also with big, projected screen?

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 12:11 pm
by Johnny-Mnemonic
relaxman wrote:does this solution work also with big, projected screen?
Sure, why not. You just need to sit at proper distance, which you need to determine practically.

Anyway you can make prism with other characteristics by tweaking angles, and in theory you can make prism for any viewing distance.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:42 pm
by Johnny-Mnemonic
Okta wrote:It does? I tried v1.10 yesterday and it doesnt.
Just tried with v.1.10 - side by side driver, crosseyed, in "Assassins Creed" black borders appears and picture is in proper aspect ratio.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:14 pm
by PalmerTech
I have done something similar! I have some lenses that are made to do the exact reverse, they let both eyes focus on a point between both of them, but by simply rotating the lenses, they instead create a perception of image off to the side as in front of you, works just like this. Your solution is definitely a lot easier to make, though. :D

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 11:56 am
by Rosomack
Hey, great idea! That might actually be better than some commercial solutions :) No ghosting, no brightness loss. Great!

Only thing that bugs me - don't you have to keep your head perfectly straight and at a certain distance from the displays for this to work?

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 1:26 pm
by Johnny-Mnemonic
Rosomack wrote:Only thing that bugs me - don't you have to keep your head perfectly straight and at a certain distance from the displays for this to work?
Generally yes, and actually distance is more important than perfectly-straight position.
You can still move head a tiny-bit during viewing, I'm didn't tried this with TrackIR yet, but I think in some small-degrees it can be used.

What is more important if you tired your neck during game, you can put glasses off and continue to play it in perfect mono looking just on one of the projections :)
Also, my personal note that I'm don't actually move my head during FPS gaming, I think like most of other players,
so considering you don't move too much this method is pretty neat Image (yes, this is prism-smile, I'm pretty happy of it!)

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 4:55 pm
by Rosomack
Speaking strictly theoretically - what if you had a prism with adjustable angles? Would that make distance less of a concern? I could see that possible using a liquid-filled container such as here.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 5:29 pm
by Johnny-Mnemonic
Rosomack wrote:Speaking strictly theoretically - what if you had a prism with adjustable angles? Would that make distance less of a concern? I could see that possible using a liquid-filled container such as here.
Strictly theoretically it's possible - changing angle will change optimal viewing distance, but for adjustable solution better to use some mirrors system.
This prism (with pre-calculated 18 degree angle between main surfaces) is made to view it from normal distance to computer screen :)

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:28 pm
by Rosomack
Couple that with a harness that keeps the visor level and you got yourself a high-resolution HMD :) Though that might be a bit of overkill... :D

It would require tinkering with the mirrors if you change your position often, but that's ok - considering the kind of stereo you get is actually near perfect.

I'll try the most basic version of this solution when I have the time, just for the fun of it :). It's surely better than crosseyed.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:17 pm
by wuhlei
If fiber optics are cheap enough it would be perfect! You would have quality and you could move your head.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:41 am
by Okta
Johnny-Mnemonic wrote:
Okta wrote:It does? I tried v1.10 yesterday and it doesnt.
Just tried with v.1.10 - side by side driver, crosseyed, in "Assassins Creed" black borders appears and picture is in proper aspect ratio.
Just tested with Oblivion and it works fine with the borders but only in crosseyed mode. The default is still messed up.

Isn't side by side default the correct driver for these glasses? Crossseyed will give you reverse stereo.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:55 am
by Johnny-Mnemonic
Okta wrote:Isn't side by side default the correct driver for these glasses? Crossseyed will give you reverse stereo.
No, this stereo-prism is designed to view crosseyed content :)
If you try to use parallel stereopair you will receive reverse stereo.

Did you build yours prism? :)

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:53 am
by Rosomack
wuhlei wrote:If fiber optics are cheap enough it would be perfect! You would have quality and you could move your head.
Could you explain how it would work with fiber optics? Not my area of expertise :D.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 6:31 am
by crim3
Basically, two endoscopes capturing the light from each of the views and guiding them to the eyes. Very expensive stuff.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 11:09 am
by Rosomack
crim3 wrote:Basically, two endoscopes capturing the light from each of the views and guiding them to the eyes. Very expensive stuff.
I don't think it would require as much auxillary stuff as professional-grade endoscopes do... No need for a long, elastic and highly adjustable cable. Unless you want to view your bowel in stereo, that is :)

Anyway, there's no way to judge the usability of fiber optics in this case without an endoscope.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 10:23 pm
by wuhlei
Do you think this will work?
4 OZ GLYCERINE, 100% VEGETABLE USP GRADE

This pure 100% USP grade vegetable glycerine (glycerin) is used in cosmetics and body care products to assist in retaining moisture and is helpful in pulling oxygen into the skin

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:29 am
by Likay
If it's transparent without colors, sure. Glycerin is working because it has the ability to refract light. Water can do the same but it vapourizes by time and may also leave dirty marks.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 2:04 am
by mAchiNE
This looks like a great idea for full resolution full frame rate and full brightness 3D on a budget! not to mention ghost free 3D like a HMD!
This may even be a better way of building a 2 screen 3D setup than using a Planar Stereo Mirror setup, no need for special mirrors or polarizers.
I have Nvidia 3d vision already but I might just have to make one of these myself! Ghost free 3D for the win :D

I know this is a DIY thread but for those who are to lazy (or unable) to make their own these might be of interest:
http://www.amazon.com/3-D-Stereo-Prism- ... B00465OY3Y" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Dont know if it would work with a 2 monitor setup or how good the quality is but thought I'd post it here in case someone wants to give it a try (the prisims slide side to side for IPD adjustment)

Also anyone tried adding magnification lenses to these to increase the FOV? (like using a Fresnel lens on a regular monitor)

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 2:23 am
by Marcer
This method , could it work with the new Blu-ray 3D , the ones that requires 3D TVs and 3D glasses ?

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 5:46 am
by cadcoke5
I have a few thoughts about this;

I have read about making a very large spherical lens using a similar technique. In this case they bent one of the plastic sheets to form a curve. A similar technique might be used to widen the field of view in one direction.

Do any of the available stereo drivers support an adjustment for the chromatic aberration caused by the prisms? I.e. on one eye's image, shift blue to one side some amount and then the red pixels a little bit more. Then, do the same for the other eye, but in the opposite direction. Would they have a similar adjustment for the spherical lens setup?

A bit of internet searching turned up some useful threads regarding fluid filled cylindrical lenses;
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=890913
A portion of a holography book at Google that has a chapter on these lenses
http://books.google.com/books?id=_o3zxj ... 7-PA224,M1


I wonder if gelatin might be added to reduce any chance of leakage?

Joe Dunfee

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:40 am
by Likay
Article i read in a sciencemagazine but gizmodo had it by googling: http://gizmodo.com/5116969/eyeglasses-w ... adjustable" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; of glasses which uses liquid pressure to form the lensecurvature.

Afaik there are no stereodrivers that adjust for chromatic aberration and i'm not sure if it's even possible. In real world this phenomena is decreased by using lenses with different density tightly attached to each other. Maybe you can try run a movie through an avisynth script but i have no practical experience of this.

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:39 am
by Marcer
Sorry if I disturb the topic but if we can see cross-eyed content can we see side-by-side content ?

Re: [DIY] Fluid-based prismatic stereoscopic goggles

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:27 am
by cadcoke5
Marcer, if you are asking why we have trouble seeing side-by-side content with our naked eyes, the reason is that your eyes were designed to aim closer together for objects that are closer. They never aim outward from each other, which would be necessary to see side-by-side content. And even if we could, the brain could not interpret it as distance.

Joe