Stereoscopic Snakeoil?

[cybereality]

I just have to assume this is some sort of scam, no way it could work:
http://stores.ebay.com/TV-Eyes-3-D

I'm almost tempted to buy one just to see what the glasses actually do (if anything). 8)

Bogus products like this are why so many people don't take S3D seriously.

[pixel67]

Very interesting. They don't go into any detail at all about how it works but at least the do set your expectations correctly, "This is not stereoscopic 3D. Things do not jump out of the screen at you since this requires special equipment". Wish there was more info...

[Welder]

They are most likely pin-hole lenses

[Tril]

The description says :

They are NOT pinhole glasses. TV Eyes glasses are based on the way a camera aperture works to increase depth of field. A new side effect was discovered that makes photographs look deeper when viewed this way. TV Eyes glasses are based on that effect.

It uses lenses but the lenses are not shown on the pictures.

It's the first time I hear about pinhole glasses. I just read about it. It's interesting.

It might work a bit but not as good as S3D. Putting a big fresnel lense in front of your monitor increases the perceived size of the monitor and the picture on screen strangely feels more real, almost 3D. Maybe these glasses do something similar.

[BlackShark]

come on just look at the descritption and the claims... i say it's a scam

[yuriythebest]

at the most its a magnifying glass lens or something.

[Tril]

I looked at the feedback. Somebody who ordered it said :

SCAM THERES HOLES IN THE LENES LIKE HAVING READING GLASSES WITHOUT THE LENES LOL

Another one said :

Glasses have pinholes.Buyer beware.The seller was professional about the refund.

Looks like it's really pinhole glasses. From the feedback, the seller does give a refund if you don't like the product.

[cybereality]

I looked at the feedback.

You know, I looked at the feedback too. There were a few people who wanted their money back (and apparently got it). However the majority of the people seemed totally happy and actually thought the movies were in 3d. Thats the part the probably irks me more. Maybe its a cool effect (ala fresnel lens), but its even worse that people don't realize its a trick. Now these people either think 3D is bogus, or think they already own 3D glasses. Either way, its a lost sale for real stereoscopic products. Its sorta like how HD-DVD/Blu-Ray is having such a hard time becoming standard since the general public all think they already own "hd-dvd" players due to the false marketing of DVD upscaling units.

[yuriythebest]

I looked at the feedback.

You know, I looked at the feedback too. There were a few people who wanted their money back (and apparently got it). However the majority of the people seemed totally happy and actually thought the movies were in 3d. Thats the part the probably irks me more. Maybe its a cool effect (ala fresnel lens), but its even worse that people don't realize its a trick. Now these people either think 3D is bogus, or think they already own 3D glasses. Either way, its a lost sale for real stereoscopic products. Its sorta like how HD-DVD/Blu-Ray is having such a hard time becoming standard since the general public all think they already own "hd-dvd" players due to the false marketing of DVD upscaling units.

hmm this gives me an idea. if people are really that stupid then perhaps...

[cybereality]

hmm this gives me an idea. if people are really that stupid then perhaps...

LOL!!!

[android78]

hmm this gives me an idea. if people are really that stupid then perhaps...

LOL
In the text for the advert, you need to have:
'Requires angry brother* for full effect.
*Angry brother sold seperatly'

[Freke1]

Where can I buy it?

¯\(°_o)/¯

[cybereality]

Wait, it gets even better. Someone challenged the seller last year and got a response. This is great:

Hello, TV Eyes 3-D here. I noticed a couple of articles on the New York Stereoscopic Society pages. If you're looking for some comments by people who have actually used the glasses, please don't forget to look at the eBay feedback for this item. With over 500 feedback, and selling nothing else, the feedback score is over 99% positive.

They do work. I guarantee them. I'm aware the glasses look like a hoax. It's been an uphill battle to get people to actually try them because they "look" like they won't work.

http://www.ny3d.org/2007/10/tv_eyes_3d_ ... nufac.html

[Welder]

Check here:
http://www.ny3d.org/2007/10/tv_eyes_3d_ ... fac_2.html

According to that, the guy even said that they ARE pinhole lenses:
Here is the response by the seller:

If you wonder why I don't put up a picture of the actual lenses. It's because people take one look, see the holes, and decide it's a fake, without any proof, and without trying them.

Pinhole lenses are hundreds of years old. They are proven to increase focus and depth of field. Only recently was it discovered that when viewing a 2-dimensional image with them it created the illusion of greater depth and form. It enhances atmospheric perspective (which is one of the main ways we determine distance, and relative distances of objects) It enhances color seperation [sic], so that in certain scenes containing the right combinations of red and blue, or orange and green
it creates a deeper effect, by making one color seem farther back, similar to the way Chromadepth looks.

Exactly how it creates these effects I don't know. There isn't a lot of research into how pinholes work.

But I don't know how an LCD monitor works either. It just does.

I offer a money back refund, so that if you are unhappy with the glasses you can get your money back. I'd hardly do that if they were fake.

These glasses are like every other product in the world. Some people will like them, and some won't.

They're new, they're different, and create a new and different effect. There are already three main types of 3-D glasses out there. Stereoscopic, Pulfrich, and Chromadepth. They all create 3-D in different ways, and have different looks.

This is one more.

So, I am a bit confused. On the Ebay page he says they are NOT pinholes, but in this response he says they ARE.

Sounds like a possible fraudulent attempt.

[yuriythebest]

btw here's a wikipedia article on pinhole glasses:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinhole_glasses

[cybereality]

Sounds like a possible fraudulent attempt.

The more I look at it, the more it looks like thats the case. This guy is also selling on Amazon (not currently available though). Here is what one very enthusiastic reviewer had to say:

When I first got these glasses I thought they were a hoax. They looked like there was no possible way they'd work. But I read the instructions and tried them anyway, and they work! It's amazing! I've never seen my TV picture look so clear or realistic before. It's almost like looking out a window. And the really cool thing is that I've tried these on dozens and dozens of movies, Harry Potter (Quiddich is awesome in 3-D), Lord of the Rings, Shrek 2 (that one looked especially good, almost like watching the movie in a Viewmaster) Pirates of the Caribbean, and I could go on and on. It even worked on things I wouldn't expect it to, like the black and white part at the beginning of Van Helsing, and even on some flat Disney cartoons, Tarzan and Bambi II (I couldn't believe that when I saw it!)

But then I looked at the other reviews from the same user. They were all spamming about how good regular movies look with these "3D" glasses and always had a link back to the sellers page. You can read some of them, clearly its the seller posting under false accounts:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-rev ... KS7G1O6RK/

Now I really want to order a pair, if nothing else just to find out what the deal is. Even if he faked a bunch of feedback, it can't all be fake or else he wouldn't be making any money. So a good percentage of people must have somehow saw something. Maybe this is some sort of placebo effect, I don't know. But from a psychological angle it would be interesting to know how the mind could be tricked into seeing 3D without stereoscopic means. That aspect is fairly interesting if that is indeed what is happening.

[yuriythebest]

Sounds like a possible fraudulent attempt.

The more I look at it, the more it looks like thats the case. This guy is also selling on Amazon (not currently available though). Here is what one very enthusiastic reviewer had to say:

When I first got these glasses I thought they were a hoax. They looked like there was no possible way they'd work. But I read the instructions and tried them anyway, and they work! It's amazing! I've never seen my TV picture look so clear or realistic before. It's almost like looking out a window. And the really cool thing is that I've tried these on dozens and dozens of movies, Harry Potter (Quiddich is awesome in 3-D), Lord of the Rings, Shrek 2 (that one looked especially good, almost like watching the movie in a Viewmaster) Pirates of the Caribbean, and I could go on and on. It even worked on things I wouldn't expect it to, like the black and white part at the beginning of Van Helsing, and even on some flat Disney cartoons, Tarzan and Bambi II (I couldn't believe that when I saw it!)

But then I looked at the other reviews from the same user. They were all spamming about how good regular movies look with these "3D" glasses and always had a link back to the sellers page. You can read some of them, clearly its the seller posting under false accounts:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-rev ... KS7G1O6RK/

Now I really want to order a pair, if nothing else just to find out what the deal is. Even if he faked a bunch of feedback, it can't all be fake or else he wouldn't be making any money. So a good percentage of people must have somehow saw something. Maybe this is some sort of placebo effect, I don't know. But from a psychological angle it would be interesting to know how the mind could be tricked into seeing 3D without stereoscopic means. That aspect is fairly interesting if that is indeed what is happening.

right, but that's a dilema. Buy a product that you already know not to trully work and contribute to his sales, not buy one and you can't truly criticize it. in any case, why not just homebrew these glasses using cardboard or something?

[android78]

Now I really want to order a pair, if nothing else just to find out what the deal is. Even if he faked a bunch of feedback, it can't all be fake or else he wouldn't be making any money. So a good percentage of people must have somehow saw something. Maybe this is some sort of placebo effect, I don't know. But from a psychological angle it would be interesting to know how the mind could be tricked into seeing 3D without stereoscopic means. That aspect is fairly interesting if that is indeed what is happening.

I agree with Yuri on this one... I'd only purchas it if he agrees to refund all expenses, including freight. That way you can try it out and return it without being out of pocket. Also he will not make any money out of you if it is a scam.

I believe the idea behind it is that the eye doesn't have to focus for the image to appear in focus using pinhole lenses. Therefore, your eye MAY naturally focus further away when your brain believes an object should appear further away. Since you still see it in focus, the illusion has worked and you'd have a slight feeling of 3D. Therefore, it probably isn't a total scam, but still a ripoff.
I don't think it would be anything like true S3D though and I also have the concern that people may get a small effect and then think they have experienced 3D and can't be bothered spending more then $20 on a S3D effect.

[stee1hed]

At last the secret of Spider Man's vision revealed!



Remember that old tv show, Spider Man's eyes coverings were actually white pieces (of plastic?) with several pin holes in them. I always thought they would inhibit his vision!

[staticbuddha]

-- this site sells them for £10 -

http://www.jdharris.co.uk/product_info. ... le-glasses

-- Step by Step to create your own with foil

http://www.instructables.com/id/Pinhole-Eyeglasses/

-- New york stereosocpic society review on these glasses and about selling these on ebay

http://www.ny3d.org/2007/10/tv_eyes_3d_ ... nufac.html

[Okta]

Just a guess here but maybe what they are getting at is the pinholes are setup so in theory only one eye can see each section of the screen. Because most peoples eyes will have some small differences this might create the perception of different focal lengths because one eye will focus on a spot on the screen while the other eye may only be able to see around the object in its 'periferal' view and create psuedo 3d.
I imagine this would require the correct pinhole setup at the correct interocular width with the correct sized screen at the correct viewing distance.
If this is the idea i could believe there would be a novelty effect.

[yuriythebest]

hmm then perhaps cybereality should indeed try them just so the rest of us don't have to. I still think the effect will be sub-anaglyph if any at all.

[LukePC1]

Just a guess here but maybe what they are getting at is the pinholes are setup so in theory only one eye can see each section of the screen. Because most peoples eyes will have some small differences this might create the perception of different focal lengths because one eye will focus on a spot on the screen while the other eye may only be able to see around the object in its 'periferal' view and create psuedo 3d.
I imagine this would require the correct pinhole setup at the correct interocular width with the correct sized screen at the correct viewing distance.
If this is the idea i could believe there would be a novelty effect.

That brings me to the Idea about blocking out parts of the screen and display similar (S-3D stuff) in each area. If the pinholes were set correctly you could make some sort of interlaced with only the glasses...
Or build a viewmaster to watch the pictures in the galery... or something similar...

Disadvantage: halve (or less) resolution
pro + cheap glasses, would work with every monitor and any field sequential driver... (.jps)

[cybereality]

The suspense was killing me, so I just bit the bullet and ordered a pair. At the very least I can take a few pictures and then return it for my money back.

Although since you guys mentioned it, I'm interested to see if these glasses could be used for some DIY stuff. I've got these mini-fresnel lens to try to maybe get a higher FOV from the VR920. Except when using the fresnels its all blurry. Maybe these pin-hole glasses could somehow focus the blurry image I'm getting. I don't know, but maybe this guy actually did figure something out. I mean, thats a lot of feedback to have faked. I guess we will know soon enough...

[crim3]

Maybe he just should have called them "vision enhancer glasses". I have a minimal base knowledge about photography, and the theory makes sense. But also the same theory makes it clear that these is not stereo 3D. And here it is the problem. The same all problem!! Misinformation!

[cybereality]

The "TV Eyes 3-D Glasses" have finally arrived. Shipped quickly, packed in a small box with some newspaper comics.

I open it up to find a pair of glasses and a pamphlet in some clear wrapping:

Sweet, at least its not a bag of pebbles!

I went into this knowing it was some sort of rip-off, so I wasn't expecting much. In fact, I kept checking my bank account balance, just to make sure I didn't get scammed for real (it happens). So when I realized these "TV Eyes 3-D Glasses" had a metal frame, I was pretty impressed. I figured they'd be plastic, at best. They felt really heavy and solid. So even if this is a hoax, at least the dude makes it look good. The part where the lens goes just has a hard plastic shell with a horizontal slit of pin-holes (8 holes each). So its not just a run of the mill pair of pin-hole glasses. So this has me interested now. As you can see below the glasses look bogus, but still appear high-quality:

TV_Eyes_01.jpg

The frame is surprisingly thick and heavy:

TV_Eyes_02.jpg

The best part is the "manual" that comes with it. Honestly, reading this this was so funny that it was worth the $20 alone. If you thought stereo-3d was complex, wait until you hear about this new tv eyes 3d. I'm going to have to scan this in, cause its just too funny. It just sounds like a bunch of BS really, but at least it does make the distinction that it is not true stereoscopic 3d. Here is a crappy photo:



At this point I just had to try the glasses out. I mean, you never know. When I put them on I experienced what the manual refers to as "bug-eyes", this sort of doubling of the image. The tops and bottoms of my vision were blocked off like when wearing an HMD. I could see a horizontal sliver of vision. So far this seems like a novelty item, but I thought I'd give it a chance. So I tried them out on my PC with a few movies. First I tried that T2 1080p trailer that someone else had linked. Didn't work. Wasn't seeing anything. Figured I'd try a DVD, so I threw on the Matrix Revolutions. Lots of special effects and action, I thought it might work. At first it didn't seem like it was doing anything really, except making it harder to see. I was wearing glasses and they didn't fit right because the the heavy frames on these so-called 3-d glasses. So I tried them just without my glasses, what the hell. Now this is interesting, they do actually make the image more clear. In fact, I could use them instead of my prescriptions. It was still difficult to see (because of the black bars and double-images) but it was pretty clear. So the glasses do something, and are indeed based on the pin-hole effect. But I'm not seeing any sort of 3D, but I keep on going...

I tried a bunch of different scenes from the movie, so far there was no sort of 3-D effect at all. It did make the image clear, and also the contrast better (because of the immersion of the black shields). So there was something going on, but it was giving me a headache. It makes your eye muscles focus differently. Like the strain you might get from an HMD but like times two. The interesting thing is that the image doubling appears similar to when you look at a real stereo-3d movie on page-flipping without glasses. So I almost see where the guy is going with this. You see like 3 or 4 overlapping ghost images that randomly offset from eye to eye. Its a sort of parallax effect, an optical illusion I think. Not that it necessarily works, but that I can see there is some science put behind this. Its not just a total gag. Finally on one scene I saw something. It was only for a second, but it was something. I paused it to look closer. The scene was a parking lot with 3 rows of lights on the ceiling. If I would shift my head to the left or right, I could see that weird pseudoscopic effect. Like when you move your head around when wearing real 3d glasses. So it was tricking the eye into something, but it just felt random for the most part. But I can almost see how it could sort of work. So I keep trying.

Now on the final scene in Matrix Revolutions, I started to get some effect. I'm not sure if it was 3d, actually, I know it wasn't 3d. But the scene did feel more "realistic" somehow. Now I think I understand what they were saying with the seeing the atmosphere thing. I kept taking them off and putting them back on. It made a difference. Mind you I am sitting 10 feet from my tv and see it somewhat clearly without my prescription glasses. Now on this one final part with all the sentinels flying around, it did look 3d! I thought maybe I was just bugging, so I rewinded and played it again. Yep, with fast horizontal motion there is a 3d effect. I played this scene over a few times, with the glasses and without. Honestly, it did almost appear to be 3d. The colors looked richer, picture more clear, and had that psuedoscopic effect. After that scene, again no 3d effects. I tried some different movies, some animation, nothing else seemed to work. So while this should still be considered a "novelty" item, its not a straight scam.

Then just to humor myself I tried out some games. I tried HL2, GRID, a few others. No dice. But somehow Devil May Cry 4 (DMC4) demo had some 3d effects. Not as much on the game, but just on the title screen. It really did appear that the text and logo were at screen-depth and the background behind it. Even when moving my head around, the text would shift slightly in the opposite vector. It was an absolute minimal amount, but it was in the correct direction. Like if the text were 1cm in front of the screen. I have no way to explain this, it may actually be worth further investigation. However it was nowhere even close to what the game looks like in real stereo-3d. It was a 3d-like effect, but it was clearly there. The first benchmark demo appeared somewhat 3d. I would put it at 2.2D if that were possible. I could take the glasses off for a second and then it would just look flat. So again, the glasses had some sort of effect but nothing worth actually paying for.

Overall, its a crap product not worth your time (unless just for lolz like I did). The vendor is spreading mis-information regarding stereo-3d and taking advantage of clueless buyers. However it is not a scam, so I guess the seller has a right to sell his product. Although it is falsely marketed, the product does have some merit. Its a novelty effect, yes, but it is something. I'd put it in the same category as those "x-ray specs" from old comics or the hoverboard plans you find in the back pages of popular science. I could see how someone gullible could be fooled. Especially since they do indeed enhance clarity of vision. The way I see it, there are probably a bunch of people out there without perfect 20/20 vision. Some see eye doctors, others do not. I wouldn't be surprised if those people (that don't realize their vision sucks) are the same people uninformed enough to order these "tv eyes 3d glasses". Its a bit low, but there are many products just like this that are perfectly legal (herbal supplements, etc.). So I guess I just discovered what everyone else just assumed from the start: the glasses are bogus. But honestly, I'm actually going to keep them just for fun. Wait until you guys see the "instruction manual", its comedy gold!

[cybereality]

Here is the best part, the "instructions":

TV_Eyes_03.jpg

TV_Eyes_04.jpg

My apologizes if you are on 56K!

[yuriythebest]

wow that was a monster of a review, thanks for taking the time and financial effort to write this

caution: this type of 3-D will not jump out of the screen at you. Instead t should increase the depth and focus of the picture, making it look more 3-three-dimensional and real

this statement seems to contradict itself
however the glasses themselves look stylish. Still, even a pair of quality anaglyph glasses or better yet a 10$ xforce glasses pair will blow this away price/performance wise.

[stee1hed]

cybereality,
Excellent review. I love all the details and pictures.

[Likay]

Interesting read! Amazingly well done review! Some astonishing and unexpected results too! By the way: Congratz to the hottest topic around!





cheers

[crim3]

Maybe he should be more careful when using the word "3D", but it seems quite honest overall.

Now it's time for freke to send free pinhole cardboard glasses to the world

[yuriythebest]

Maybe he should be more careful when using the word "3D", but it seems quite honest overall.

Not it's time for freke to send free pinhole cardboard glasses to the world

freke c'mon ppl are waiting here. could this service be any slower?

[Freke1]

Hi, I'm busy making 3D videos... no time for pinholes sry
Also I must game some more... oh and I must remember to save up to buy a projector:

[cybereality]

Just so you guys know I did return the bogus specs and got my money back. I should have left negative feedback but I'm a nice guy and decided not to. I can't believe the dude is still selling them on eBay, what a scam.

[cybereality]

Wow, this girl is still around pulling this same scam over 2 years later:
http://stores.ebay.com/TV-Eyes-3-D" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The sad part is that many of her auctions actually have bids on them. People are buying this crap.