The 3D Vir tual Lab @

McHenry County College

How we “see” in three dimensions
In order to understand how the 3D Virtual Lab
works, it is essential to understand how our eyes
and our brains “see” in three dimensions. When
we look at real, tangible, three-dimensional objects,
the image that our left eye sees and the image that
our right eye sees are slightly different. (One can
experience this by closing one’s right eye, then
rapidly opening it while closing the left eye). This
is due to the fact that our eyes are located slightly
apart from one another and individually have a
different perspective on the object we are viewing.
Our brain receives these two slightly different images Image viewed from left eye Image viewed from right eye
and constructs in our mind what we perceive to be a Minor variations between the two images can be identified.
three-dimensional image.

When we look at an image on a screen, our brain When the two images are
“knows” that the screen is flat, and therefore we placed on top of one another,
perceive the image on the screen to be flat. We can the minor variations in
see perspective on the screen (we can tell when perspective become apparent.
objects are supposed to look far away or very near),
but it never appears that an actual three-dimensional
object is floating on the screen. However, in the 3D
Virtual Lab, special equipment is used so that our
left eye and right eye receive slightly different images,
just as they would when viewing an actual three-
dimensional object. Our brain then interprets these
two images and “creates” a virtual three-dimensional image.

How the lab works

In the 3D Virtual Lab, two computers and special software developed by Emergence Learning are used to
display the three-dimensional image. One computer is used to control the image, while the other computer is
attached to two projectors - one projector displays an image for our left eye and the other displays the image
for our right eye. A polarizing sheet is placed in front of each projector to polarize the light emitted from each.
The person viewing the three-dimensional image must wear polarized glasses as to properly receive the two
different images in the proper eye in order to create the 3D effect.

© 2004, Kathleen Plinske, McHenry County College

Polarization
A beam of light is actually a travelling wave of electric and
magnetic fields. The electric field of a beam of light is always
aligned perpendicularly to its corresponding magnetic field, and
the actual beam of light travels in a direction perpendicular to
both fields. A beam of light consisting of an
electric and magnetic wave.
The electromagnetic waves emitted by any common source of light
are unpolarized, or aligned randomly. However, if light encounters a
polarizing sheet, only beams of light whose electric field is aligned a
particular way are allowed to pass through - the rest are absorbed.
A polarizing sheet consists of certain long molecules embedded in
plastic that have been stretched and aligned in parallel rows, like rows
in a plowed field. When light is sent through the sheet, the electric
field components that are parallel to the rows of molecules pass
through whereas the components aligned perpendicularly to the
rows of molecules are absorbed by the molecules.
Unpolarized light becomes polarized when
sent through a polarizing sheet.

Polarization in the Lab

The polarizing sheet used for one projector is aligned
perpendicularly to the polarizing sheet used for the other
projector. For example, if the polarizing sheet used with
the projector whose image is intended for our left eye is
aligned vertically, then the polarizing sheet used with the
projector whose image is intended for our right eye is
aligned horizontally. The two images reach the screen with
opposite polarizations. The images then reflect off the
screen and reach us in the 3D lab.
Each projector emits an image which is polarized
and reflected off of the screen.
3D Glasses
The glasses that we wear in the labs are polarized. The lens
that sits in front of our left eye is polarized perpendicularly with
respect to the lens that sits in front of our right eye. In our
example, the lens that sits in front of our left eye is polarized
vertically, which allows the image intended for our left eye (and
polarized vertically) to pass through while it blocks the image
intended for our right eye. The lens that sits in front of our right
eye is polarized horizontally, which allows the image intended
for our right eye (and polarized horizontally) to pass through
while it blocks the image inteded for our left eye. Our brain then
receives the two different images and composites them into what The right eye receives only the image projected
we perceive to be a three-dimensional image. from Projector A while the left eye receives only
the image projected from Projector B.
© 2004, Kathleen Plinske, McHenry County College