3-D AND 4-D IMAGING

3-D Imaging

Fact and Fiction

Man has dreamed of producing 3-D true-to-life images since the development of photography more than 160 years ago. As the history of photography has evolved, many have tried and failed in their quest for 3-D perfection…until now.

With its technological breakthroughs, Creative Rays, Inc has replaced old-fashioned, flat, and unrealistic 3-D photographs with totally 3-dimensional true-to-life full color images, depicting all three dimensions in equal scale.

A brief review of the physiology of sight and the history of 3-D photography helps to fully understand this outstanding scientific accomplishment. Science defines four major dimensions in our world: width, called the "X" dimension; height, or the "Y" dimension; depth, the "Z" dimension and the fourth dimension, time, called "T." As we look at our world, we see depth and dimension using our natural senses. All seeing creatures have at least two eyes, which transmit linear and angular information to the brain so depth or "Z" can be perceived. People with the use of only one eye cannot see depth at all, but can imagine it using motion that involves the time or "T" factor. Adding motion or rotating an object can give the viewer the impression of depth and distance. Having the impression of depth and actually seeing depth is not the same thing. By adding "T" to "X" and "Y," plus some imagination one can, to some degree, substitute for dimension "Z."

Let us get back to the term "3-D image." If an image is three-dimensional it must create the illusion of depth, but which three of the four dimensions should be used? Certainly "X" and "Y," but what about "Z" or "T"? Because flat images can rotate, "T" can be the third dimension. It is this very concept that today's computer software developers are using to create their so-called "3-D" products. Where, however, is the depth? It remains only in one's imagination.

Not all attempts at capturing depth have failed. Holography created a lot of excitement when it was introduced. It gave the illusion of depth that everyone was looking for, but gave up the advances that photography had made, namely color and simplicity of viewing. Falling short of its desired potential, holography turned out to be a novelty for stickers and trading cards. Problems, such as recording a hologram of the subject who must sit in total darkness and then suddenly exposed to a single intense flash of coherent (laser) light, remains impractical for portrait photography, except as a curiosity.

A century ago 3-D glasses were developed to advance the 3-D illusion. The theory of 3-D glasses is quite simple. Each of the viewer's eyes sees one of two slightly different images, taken from slightly different vantage points. Over the years many kinds of glasses (colored, polarized, electronic or mechanical shutters) have been developed. The industry has focused on improving viewing technology instead of developing new 3-D imaging techniques through advancements in "Z" technology.

Dependency on 3-D glasses almost faded in the 1940s when Russian technology produced a lenticular screen containing multiple microscopic lenses. Although the screens looked like a new step in 3-D development, it turned out to be simply the glasses theory incorporated on a different media, with each eye still seeing a different image. This primitive lenticular screen image is still used today in promotional items, trading cards, and trinkets. To this day these items suffer from the inherent disadvantages of blurring, either in whole or in part, and the difficulty of catching the proper viewing position.

It is a fact that current 3-D images offer very limited depth that makes everything look “stepped,” as if it has been cut out of thick paper and stacked. The problem is that the "Z" dimension is simply not equal to "X" and "Y" and the image does not appear life-like. Instead of concentrating on improving lenticular images, inventors have been concentrating their efforts on making today's 3-D photographs easier and cheaper to produce.

It is within this scientific area that Creative Rays, Inc has made great strides. Utilizing its new inventions and discoveries, including revolutionary developments in lenticular screens, it has created "Z" depth that equals "X" and "Y." It is now, for the first time in the history of imaging, able to produce true-to-life images of people, commercially and of high quality.

In today's marketplace many companies claim to offer 3-D products, calling them such things as "real 3-D", "authentic 3-D" and so forth. They include everything from 3-D photographs to high-level 3-D software. These offerings often produce very poor depth or they substitute motion effects for depth. Over the past few years the term "3-D" has become diluted to the point where it means nothing more than “unusual.”

It should be emphasized that, if the display media is flat, such as a paper surface, a wall surface, even a TV screen or computer monitor, the illusion will not be "3-D." Spatial 3-D illusion of images can be obtained without 3-D glasses only on three dimensional, spatial media, such as lenticular screens, holographic microgrooves or photo emulsions.

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