So, I can't see 3D pictures, will I be able to experience VR?

April 23, 2018 12:11 PM

Pretty basic really... I can't see 3D pictures or movies. Will I be able to experience virtual reality now that it's becoming a thing?

According to an opthamologist I saw a while back, my eyes don't quite line up correctly, and if my eyes are giving me mixed signals, my brain basically ignores the signals from one eye or the other (if I remember, my right eye generally wins the battle). This means I've never been able to enjoy 3D pictures or movies. Even with the special glasses. This also means I have pretty lousy depth perception. I mean, I can tell whenever I'm watching a movie (because friends and amusement park tours...) that there are points where I'm *supposed* to see the 3D effect. And I can gauge other by people's reactions that they're seeing something that I'm totally not, but it's extremely rare that I, myself, have seen anything pop off the screen in 3D. Like, maybe twice...

I've never seen a 3D effect in a picture or poster. Okay, once, when I was six and had my eyes tested, so I know what it's supposed to look like, but that was the first and last time. It never happened after that. That was well over 45 years ago. I've never *ever* seen what those stupid "magic eye" pictures that were so popular a while back were supposed to be. Like, ever.

Anyway, virtual reality is slowly becoming a thing, and I'm curious... does the fact that my eyes don't line up correctly mean I won't experience VR the same way most people will? I mean, at this point in time it's basically the same concept, right?

posted by patheral to Technology (14 answers total)

The 3D in true VR typically involves parallax, which means that, as you move your head/body, things closer to you shift more in your vision than things further away. You can look round things. You will certainly be able to experience this, just as you do in real life.

There is also a stereoscopic aspect to VR, in which the eyes are presented with slightly different images, enhancing the perception of depth. It sounds like you will miss out on this, which you also presumably miss out on in real life.

In short, VR should be as effective for you as your vision is in life. You won't miss out on much, if you don't think you're missing out on too much when you move around this reality.
posted by cincinnatus c at 12:24 PM on April 23, 2018 [4 favorites]

VR isn't (necessarily) 3D. It's also that you can interact with the virtual world you see. For example, if you are wearing a VR headset and turn your head, you will see what is "over there" in the display. (In contrast, if you were watching a regular movie on your phone and turned your body, you would still keep seeing exactly the same angle as if you stood still.) I don't think this would be impacted by your issues. However, you may not find certain VR headsets or displays pleasant, or your issues with depth percept might affect your ability to interact with items in a virtual world.
posted by beyond_pink at 12:26 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm essentially blind in my right eye (20/200 vision). I have no real depth perception or peripheral vision. I also cannot do 3D movies or those magic eye posters.

I’ve tried VR using cardboard holders and it 100% did not work for me. Haven’t tried using an actual VR rig but I wouldn’t expect those to work either.
posted by Diskeater at 12:29 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Not the question, but your vision may be fixable. I did vision therapy as a kid to correct my strabismus (misaligned eyes). No surgery or patch - just 20-30 minutes of exercises a day for maybe a year. Googling "strabismus or amblyopia adult vision therapy" gives me a lot of responses saying that it's very treatable in adults.

I don't know if that's specifically your problem, but if it bothers you at all it seems worthwhile to find an ophthalmologist who will do more than give you a vague explanation.
posted by Kriesa at 12:37 PM on April 23, 2018 [4 favorites]

Hey this is me! I have played around with a VR rig (HTC vive) a bit and it works fine, for the reasons others have detailed. I have no idea if my experience would be different if I had depth perception, but I could perceive my surroundings normally and had no problem playing.
posted by quaking fajita at 12:38 PM on April 23, 2018

The term of art you’re looking for is “head-coupled perspective.” This means that the position of the virtual cameras representing your eyes is synchronized with at least the orientation (in the “cardboard” style phone viewers) and also position (in Vive/Oculus/Windows Mixed Reality). That works even monoscopically. So while you may miss out on stereo depth cues the same way you do in the physical world, you’ll still get parallax when you move your head, etc. Of note: stereo depth cues are only meaningful out to a few meters, even for people with typical vision. A lot of current VR content does emphasize near-field stereo, so you may miss some of that, but there’s a lot of other spatial cues you’ll still get!
posted by Alterscape at 12:43 PM on April 23, 2018 [4 favorites]

I can enjoy a 3D movie with glasses, but I cannot see the magic eye pics and the VR headset I got for Christmas was completely useless. Never once saw anything "virtual" or 3D-looking, just double vision all the way, no matter how I adjusted it. (The FOMO is real.)
posted by jhope71 at 12:44 PM on April 23, 2018

Response by poster: So I'm getting that the answer is... it'll probably be okay. Maybe. ^_^
posted by patheral at 3:24 PM on April 23, 2018

Also note that anything farther out than 200 meters or so can't be measured with human stereoscopic vision. So a flight simulator (sans cockpit) would work the same -- for example, the Soarin' ride at Disney is 2D, but induces a fair amount of vertigo with the large screen (and moving audience.)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:08 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

There is a Virtual Reality treatment for lazy eye disorders that can be prescribed by an optometrist.
posted by Sophont at 6:00 PM on April 23, 2018

This is me. The glasses things don’t work for me but the head-mounted displays such as the Microsoft Mixed Reality headset worked ok for me. If you’re near a physical Microsoft Store you can go try one out. (BTW my optometrist also practices vision therapy but she says I’m not a candidate because my eye-brain disconnect in my left eye from birth is too profound.)
posted by matildaben at 9:30 PM on April 23, 2018

P.S. Alterscape’s answer is very good.
posted by matildaben at 9:32 PM on April 23, 2018

Sounds like my eyes! I can see it ok, but I feel really ill (motion sickness) really quickly.
posted by london explorer girl at 2:17 AM on April 24, 2018

Magic eyes don't work for me either, but I was pleased to discover that the one time I tried on the VR headset, my virtual reality looked real.
posted by oceano at 8:23 PM on April 24, 2018