Stereoscopes: spanning the line between lab and life

A stereoscope is utilized to arouse procedures of binocular vision. It is available in two basic kinds- refracting stereoscopes that use prisms or commonly lenses and reflecting stereoscopes that use mirrors. Be it you are using any kind of stereoscope, its function is to interpret two separate images- each image to each eye.  It is commonly known as a famous device for fun, stereoscopes played an important part in early psychology labs that performed research activities on vision.
Sir Charles Wheatstone gave design to stereoscope in 1833. He explained his first design of the stereoscope to the world in 1838. He invented various kinds of devices like the most basic electromechanical chronoscope, the primary electrical telegraph, and the English concertina. The electromechanical chronoscope by Wheatstone remains as the basic inspiration for the popular chronoscope designed by Hipp in Germany. He also discovered Playfair cipher, which is a method of encoding messages utilized for World War I.
The first stereoscope by Wheatstone consists of mirrors which helps in reflecting images from two distinct image cards- where each image reflects into each eye. For example, if one image is a bird, it was mirrored to the left side eye, where the other image is a birdcage mirrored to the right side eye. The consequence was a combination of two images. It resulted in the observation of a single picture that is a bird in the cage. Wheatstone also developed a refracting stereoscope that utilizes prisms instead of mirrors to direct pictures to the eyes.
David Brewster developed a refracting stereoscope in 1848. He referred it as lenticular stereoscope. He developed the design earlier in 1843 by utilizing lenticular lenses or semi-double convex lenses instead of prisms or mirrors. He utilized lenticular lenses in a better compact device where the focal distance between the eye and image cards remain much shorter than prisms or mirrors. Just like the earlier model, the lenses directed two separate pictures to each eye.
After the discovery of camera which would take pictures with two images where each with the viewpoint of each eye, allowing the image to be perceived as a unique three-dimensional image. Dubosq developed and launched the first commercial kind of lenticular stereoscope in Paris. It was then presented at Great Exposition that was organized in London, England in 1851. The accessibility of the stereoscopic pictures and size of the device remained useful for scientific and recreational purposes.

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