Ever since Charles Wheatstone invented the Stereoscope using mirrors in the 1830′s, people have been fascinated with 3-dimentional stereoscopic vision and depth perception.
The New Yorker published a very interesting article called Stereo Sue about 10 months ago. You’ll want to read the entire abstract (linked above), but here is a synopsis: According to the abstract, Sue was born cross-eyed, and had surgeries that failed to correct her lack of stereo or binocular vision. The story continues that 25 years later, in 2002 when Sue was in her late 40′s, she began vision therapy in spite of being told by doctors that vision therapy would not help. According to The New Yorker, her ability to see with 3-dimentional vision “was immediate and dramatic.” The abstract indicates that “without early binocular experiences” the mechanisms that allow binocular vision are probably not available to be “reactivated later.”
If you’re interested in building your own stereoscope, I found an interesting article that explains more about stereoscopes, and how to build several different types of stereoscopes. See:
Let’s Build a Stereoscope
Want to find a doctor who provides Vision Therapy to help restore binocular stereoscopic vision? Click the Find vision thereapy dr. link here or in the right toolbar under “Vision-Related Organizations.”
Photo Credit: “A closeup of a leaf” by Stefan Vasilev; Stereoscope photo by Joaquim Alves Gaspar is published under a Creative Commons License at Wikipedia.
