The XKCD “Giant Head” Enhanced Depth Perception Project

Craft & Design Photography & Video Science
The XKCD “Giant Head” Enhanced Depth Perception Project

Many of you will probably have seen this one from late August, already. I haven’t found any indication that Mr. Munroe has actually done this, yet, but there’s no reason the idea shouldn’t work, in principle. To do so requires a viewer with an individually addressable video display for each eye, but these are not too hard to come by. And large-parallax static stereograms taken using synchronized still cameras are well known. Here’s a nice one from Flickr user 4423TKTM toxic:

3d cloud island (crosseye)

But I’m curious about the real-time full-motion video version. You’d need two HD webcams set up on, say, mountain peaks a couple miles apart. Perhaps overlooking an airport? Might do audio, too, while you’re at it, so you could use stereo earphones to get the full-on “giant head” effect…

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I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared in ReadyMade, c't – Magazin für Computertechnik, and The Wall Street Journal.

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