Before computers and head mounted displays, before movies became common, our great-grandparents entered a virtual 3-D world. Almost every well-to-do Victorian parlor had a stereopticon and a collection of stereo cards where the television would be today. The stereoscope slides that were produced allowed people to sit in their own home and tour the world to far off lands such as Japan. Today these views are even more exciting because we're now able to travel back in time and see Japan as it was over a hundred years ago.

Stereoscopes, also called stereo-opticons or stereo viewers, were one of America's most popular entertainments from the middle of the 1800s to the beginning of the 20th century. The British, Sir Charles Wheatstone had the first patented stereoscope in 1838. Smartly, Wheatstone combined stereoscopic drawings and photos, joining both forms to produce the stereoscope. Eventually, the most popular of the stereoscope maker was Oliver Wendell Holmes, and his collections were the most common until 1939. Photographers from companies such as Keystone and Underwood traveled the world searching interesting places and events, preserving their world for us to enter in 3-D today.

A stereoscope is composed of two pictures printed next to each other. The 3-D effect is obtained with a set of lenses to view the pictures. Each picture is taken from a short space apart, which corresponds to the spacing of the eyes. Euclid, in Ancient Greece, explained the principles of binocular vision, demonstrating that the right and left eyes see a slightly different version of the same scene and that it is the merging of these two images that produces the perception of depth. When the picture is seen with the viewer, the pair of two-dimensional pictures merge into one to produce the effect of a single 3-D photograph with a great sense of depth and proximity.

To enable 3-D viewing on a computer or television we separate color images into their red-green-blue components and place the left view in the red channel and the right view in the green-blue (cyan) channel. The view each eye sees can be filtered using low-cost red-cyan glasses -- unfortunately there is some unavoidable 'ghosting' or bleeding of one color into the other eye's view. Using more expensive methods such as polarized filters or a goggles the ghosting can be overcome.

This collection is a virtual tour of the historical of Japan that is commonplace, innocent and unwritten, but that can certainly delight us. People curious of their heritage will cherish the scenes of old times with its traditions, music and a narration that allows us more information. The Japan, one hundred three years ago, was just beginning to become a great power in the world, and its history includes participation in wars and great earthquakes, and a constant industrialization under the political events. But in this collection, the ideal every day life is the focus, and the result is joy.

The "Old Japan in 3-D" DVD contains over 100 views of old Japan accompanied by music and narration of of the text that was printed on the back of the cards. Every school, historical museum, and library in Japan should be interested in owning a copy. 3-D enthusiasts everywhere will also find this DVD interesting. It is available for $20 plus $3 for shipping in the US. Please contact info@AAArt.com for more information.

Two pairs of Red-Cyan glasses (cardboard with red/cyan colored gel filters) are also available from AAArt for $2.