The stereoscopically vision-impaired’s lament…

I was blind in one eye until I was 27 years old when I miraculously gained vision in my blind eye… sort of. It is difficult to explain and probably not all that interesting. The first thing I did when I had two eyes was fall off a curb, true story. The sudden addition of a field of depth took some getting used to. The 2nd thing I did was run out to see a 3D movie, a novelty I was never able to experience before and one that to this day, seven years later, still enthralls me. The Spiderman ride at Universal Studios in Florida remains one of the most magical things I have ever witnessed.

Funny thing though, not all kinds of 3D tech work on me it seems. Even though I can see out of both eyes my brain still likes to think it is only looking out of one in certain situations. I had the chance today to play Pilotwings 3D for the Nintendo 3DS and am very disappointed that this newest “glasses free” 3D device does not work on me at all.

The 3DS uses a different kind of pixel. They transmit half a signal to each eye and leave it up to your brain to put the two together thus giving the illusion of things popping out of the screen. There is a sweet spot of about 14-21 inches from the face, with the unit centered, that this effect takes place. When I hit that sweet spot the image on screen tears in two and it all goes blurry. I fiddled with it for a good 10 minutes before giving up.

And just like that all excitement for this is gone. The remake of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and the new Mario game hold little interest. I suppose I could still play these games, you can turn the 3D effect off but I cannot help but feel that I will always be bitter that I am but the slide of a button and a glitch in my vision away from seeing these games as they were meant to be played.
I feel cheated somehow. I know logically this is a silly way to feel but there it is gnawing at the back of my optic nerve.

I was really hoping that this new trend in 3D was not just a passing fad as it was in the mid 80’s but now I am not so sure. I suppose that is selfish. I need something else on the horizon I can get giddy about. Sony burned me with the PSP so I already view the NGP with extreme skepticism. All these tablets are…well… tablets. So it is in the Holodeck that I place my hopes. That might seem like a far off pipe dream but I ask you… is it?

-Cody