Comparing the Holographic Effect Capabilities of HD Gasses to Red/Blue Lens 3D Glasses

Type 

Physical Science

Grade Level 

Upper Elementary (grade 5th) and/or middle School (6-8)

Difficulty of Project

Easy

Cost

Under $10.00 dollars

Safety Issues 

The investigator should not look directly at very bright light sources or the Sun while using the HD and 3D Glasses as it may cause permanent eye damage!

Material Availability

Readily available

Approximate Time Required to Complete the Project 

45 minutes to one hour after all of the materials are secured.

Objective

The research aspect of this science fair project is to compare the 3-dimentional Holographic Effect capabilities of high definition glasses incorporating ChromaDepth^® optics to that of the standard Red/Blue color lens 3D glasses.

A 2-diminitional color image will be drawn following a specific color layering pattern. This image will be viewed through both HD and standard Red/Blue 3D glasses and the observed 3D holographic effect produced if any will be rated based on specific criteria, with the results being displayed in a data table.

Materials and Equipment / Ingredients

Construction paper, pencil, 48 count Crayola Crayon^® or bright florescent color marking pens, ChromaDepth^® High Definition (HD) Glasses, standard Red/Blue color lens 3D glasses, color pictures or images of landmasses, underwater scenes, and/or space scenes.

With the exception of the glasses all of materials are available from a major retail (Wal-Mart, Target, Dollar General, etc) department store. The ChromaDepth^® HD glasses can be purchased online from Science in a Bag (http://www.scienceinabag.com/Productpage.html) or Educational Innovations (www.teacherssource.com). The Red/Blue color lens 3D glasses can be constructed from simple materials based on directions available form the NASA website  (http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/classroom/glasses.shtml) or purchased along with a Tri-fold cardboard display board from an art & crafts supply store. 

Introduction

Red and blue 3D glasses attempt to mimic normal sight, and to play a trick on the brain. This is done by creating two very similar images on a flat surface, one overlaying the other. The first image is in red, and the second image is in blue. In 3D glasses the right lens is usually red, and the left usually blue in color. This means that the right eye picks up the first image, and the left eye picks up the slightly different image. The slight difference in perspective, and the fact that each eye can only see one image which looks to be the same one, creates an illusion of 3D.

Image courtesy of howstuffworks.com 

High Definition (HD) glasses allow the wearer to see 2-demensional images in 3D, by the process of selective refraction (bending of light) through the lens changes the perceived depth of different colors. Unlike the traditional 3D process that requires 2 images, HD information is encoded from a single image through the use of binary optics and color, for example an image composed red and blue when viewed through the HD glasses the color red appears to move toward the foreground and off the face of the paper (or screen) whereas the blue appears to move back behind the paper with the other colors of the spectrum taking depth positions in corresponding order (red, orange, yellow, green and blue). 

Also unlike traditional red/blue 3D glasses the choice of background color is the most important factor in determining the colors which should be used to achieve the 3D effect when wearing HD glasses. The easiest and most commonly utilized background colors are black and dark blue. This is probably why so many underwater scenes and space scenes produce very good 3D images when seen through HD glasses. Bright florescent colors, as well as mixed tones such as brown also produce good 3D effects. 

Holograms are photographic images that are three-dimensional and appear to have depth and appear to “pop out” of the media which it is printed on or illuminated from. Holograms work by creating an image composed of two superimposed 2-dimensional pictures of the same object seen from different reference points.  

The ChromaDepth^® 3D process enables HD glasses to take 2 dimensional images and produce holographic 3D which means that the images appear “floating” in a holographic space, that is, parts of the image appears to be hovering above and other parts below.  What is actually being seen is a very high quality full color hologram.

Digital photos can be taken during the experimenting process and/or images of HD glasses with ChromaDepth^® optics can be downloaded from the Science in a bag website for free and without copyright infringement issues at: (http://www.scienceinabag.com/hdinfopage.html). 

The following sites offer down loadable images that can be used on the Tri-fold display board:

• http://www.3dglasses-online.eu/catalog/images/RedBlue-Green.jpg
• http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/holographic-memory.jpg
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/images/2008/08/15/salisbury_3d_1_350x470.jpg 

Research Questions

• How do high definition glasses allow the wearer to see 2-demensional images in 3D?
• How do red/blue lens 3D glasses allow the wearer to see 2-demensional images in 3D?
• What is the difference in the optics between HD and red/blue 3D glasses lenses?
• Is it possible to clearly see 3D holographic images wearing standard red/blue 3D glasses?
• When drawing images what important consideration must be made in order to produce 3D holographic images when viewed through HD Glasses?
• Why make geological maps that require the wearing of High Definition glasses instead of standard 3D glasses? 

Terms, Concepts and Questions to Start Background Research

Hologram, Holographic Effect, High Definition glasses,