Can you see magic eye pictures?

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

As a not quite middle aged dude, I only just now figured out how to see magic eye stuff. I tried a couple times in elementary school but didn’t get it so I stopped. Had a few drinks earlier, stumbled on some magic eye pic that I could see clear as day and it blew my mind a little

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Hugin@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yes. They require stereoscopic vision. When I was doing research on 3D displays about 10% of subjects had to be rejected because they were stereo blind. They had no idea they were that way.

One woman said that explains why she had the nickname clunk in high school. She had a habit of rearending cars.

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- TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Lmao clunk is brutal
  
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- Bwaz@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’m one of the stereo blind. I was kind of glad when I found out from the eye doctor. It explained why I could rarely catch a baseball without getting hit.
  
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  - Hugin@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    So depending on why you might be able to train it. If you don’t have a lazy eye and have good vision you may want to look into it.
    
    If your brain is just not fusing two good images there is a good chance you can train it to do so. Having done experiments in this field I can tell you it makes a measurable difference in performance.
    
    A good read on the subject is below. The part where she first sees a tree in 3D is a good example of what you are missing.
    
    Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist’s Journey Into Seeing in Three Dimensions by Susan R Barry
    
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Deestan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Someone made a modified version of Quake back in the day, that rendered to stereoscopic 3D in a white noise pattern.

It was such a mindfuck to play!

You get 3D depth but no colors or shades or contrast. It’s just shapes moving. So doors that were flush with the wall were impossible to see, but enemies in dark rooms were fully visible because there is no light or dark.

I like to imagine I got to experience what a bat sees with echolocation.

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- fubbernuckin@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  That sounds cool af! I wonder if something like that still exists.
  
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morphballganon@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yes.

The instructions say don’t cross your eyes but that’s horseshit and probably why so many people fail to see them.

My method is to cross my eyes, then uncross them slowly until the 3d effect appears, then hold on that position.

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- alsimoneau@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  But then you see them inverted.
  
  3d cross eyed pictures and magic eye work in similar but different ways
  
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  - agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Yup you want to focus farther than the picture. Crossing your eyes mature you focus closer.
    
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wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Now that you’ve figured it out, behold: Stereograms!

Image

Image

Image

The above satellite images from NASA allow you to SEE the topography in 3D.

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- aesthelete@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  These are awesome thanks for sharing. Also, if you can do magic eye and stereograms, try crossing your eyes when playing those “find the differences between these two pictures” games. They are incredibly easy if you cross your eyes.
  
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- TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Off to find my house!
  
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- jrubal1462@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Omg I’ve never been able to do a magic eye before, but I think there stereograms just unlocked it for me! I Feel like I get it now, thanks!
  
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  - wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I just posted some more over here.
    
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- serenitybyjan@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Weird question if anyone happens to know: when I look at these combined, it looks like the elevated parts go INTO the image rather than pop out, like it’s 3D but inverse. I have always been able to see Magic Eyes with no difficulty, but I’ve also had some form of exotropia that I can control to trigger the depth. Should I be doing something different with these stereograms?
  
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  - wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You’re doing “wall eyed” viewing. These are for “cross-eyed” viewing. “Wall-eyed” means your eyes are focusing at a point behind the image. You need to cross your eyes for these. Try putting your finger in between your screen and your eyes, varying the distance until the dots merge. Then, remove your finger, focusing on the image itself. That should allow for cross-eyed viewing.
    
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BroBot9000@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Absolutely loved them as a kid! Had a quite a few books.

You can do them two different ways. The normal way with the objective popping out towards you and an inverted way with crossing your eyes that inverts the shape.

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- TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’m pretty sure I did it the cross eyed way. I’m doo trunk to understand how to do it another way
  
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  - BroBot9000@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Bring the page close to your nose, let your eyes kinda naturally loose focus from distance. Then slowly start to pull the page back and you should get it.
    
    Kinda difficult to describe.
    
    Check back when you are sober and see if you get it to work.
    
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- Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I think I usually saw the inverted version. I could make out the shapes, but they never popped out.
  
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DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yep.

If you can do it, you can sometimes use that skill to quickly compare whether two adjacent vertical images are identical. If they are, you will just see a single version of the image as normal. If they are different, you will easily see a ‘fuzzy’ part of the image that won’t resolve and stay still (hard to describe, it’s like it to try to read text in a dream).

A practical application I use now and then is when I want to compare two columns of data on a screen. Use the magic eye technique to overlap the columns and any differences will be immediately obvious, even with a lot of data.

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umbraroze@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I can see them.

Or at least I could. When LGR recently made a video about them, I was having a very bad time viewing them. I was either too drunk or not used to seeing them with this TV setup or I just need new glasses. Probably the last one.

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- TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  How far away from the tv were you?
  
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  - umbraroze@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Tried various distances, that didn’t help too much. I’m afraid I have to hold to the theory that I’m officially old now and need bifocals.
    
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flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
This is a great random question. Me likey

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- TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’m full of random questions
  
  If you could only eat 1 dish forever without worrying about vitamin intake or macros, what would it be?
  
  What would your plan be if you woke up tomorrow and everyone else on earth disappeared without a trace?
  
  What’s a skill you want to learn and what’s stopping you from learning it?
  
  What’s the largest animal you think you could beat in a fight with just your hands?
  
  You stumble upon all the dragonballs, what is your wish?
  
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  - flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Oh this is easy!
    
    Lasagne - its so versatile. I’d usually keep it realy light on mince and boost the vegetables, though. So many textures and ways to play with flavours, it’d be ages before it got old.
    
    Alone? I dunno. Sleep or gooning, probably
    
    Largest animal: a med-small dog? Like a whippet or something.
    
    I don’t understand the dragonballs stuff. Probably just too them down a hill (we’ve got some really steep streets for this in NZ)
    
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Acamon@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I love them! Generally find that once you get one it’s a lot easier. I find that if I’ve not looked at one for a while, and 8k kit getting it, and I go back to the first one I got (some boxing kangaroos) and normally it just clicks again.

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UncleGrandPa@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Being legally blind in one eye precludes me from using those

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- fitjazz@lemmynsfw.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Same here, before I found out it is literally impossible for me to see them I had one of the books and I would stare at it for hours trying to make it work. Of all the annoyances of being half blind, not being able to see magic eyes is the one that bothers me most.
  
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HiddenLychee@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Wow, I must be the only person on Lemmy that cannot

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- TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Someone said that they did some research on people who were able to use 3d TVs and 10% couldn’t, or maybe you just haven’t gotten a hang of it yet?
  
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Deestan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yes. I can change my vision’s focal point and focus distance at will, so it’s usually easy even though my eyesight is getting fucky with age.

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BreadOven@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I finally realized how to reliably do it in my early 20s (a while ago now) but still can to this day. Just have to start with it at my face haha.

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ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yes.

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Nemo@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Nope! But I’ve made them. I needed to go find someone with more normal eyes to test my creations for me, though.

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- TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  How do you make them???
  
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  - Nemo@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You need a repeating visual pattern, a fairly busy one. Then you need a greyscale image of what you want the “magic” picture to be. You deform the repeating pattern by the intensity of the greyscale image.
    
    When your two eyes overlay the background images, your brain highlights the distortions and interprets them as depth… at least if your eyes are good enough to give your brain that information in the first place.
    
    If you want to know more, the algorithm to do this is public, and you can set it up in eg. javascript in an afternoon.
    
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Lionheadbud@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I didn’t think I could but interestingly enough discovered a technique that works earlier today. Basically get really close whilst staring at a point then gradually move away. It actually is an amazing effect

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- TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Off to www.reddit.com/r/t5_2s44q/s/sbwPTHADgA now
  
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eronth@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Nope. Never figured it out

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kaotic@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I can see the 3D, but struggle to put together what they are sometimes because I don’t have colors to put the image together.

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Dasus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I can somewhat move my eyes independently. I credit this skill to us having had magic eyes books as a kid and I just learned to control eye muscles willingly.

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HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I see them inverted. I’m left handed, I figure that has something to do with it

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- howrar@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It sounds like you might be looking at the left image with your right eye and the right image with your left eye. That’s what happens when you cross your eyes instead of looking past the image.
  
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Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yeah, but I have to stick my face right up close and slowly move it away to do so.

Phone/tablet screens work best for it.

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Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yeah I just relax my eyes and then focus the book without moving my line of sight

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Opinionhaver@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Stereograms? Yeah I can. I’ve even made them myself.

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- TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  How did ya make one?
  
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BurgerBaron@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I couldn't because really bad astigmatism, but after ICL surgery I could. Magic Eye is really cool, binged the greatest hits after I found out I could see them.

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Tedesche@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I couldn’t for most of my life, but then I just tried about two years ago and it clicked. I’ve been able to ever since. It’s a cognitive skill. Once you learn it, it’s like riding a bike. I hate to make it sound as exclusive as it is, because that’s what turned me off of it to begin with, but it really is true. Just figure it out and it’s like a code that you can decode at will.

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Waldelfe@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yes, but only if I take off my glasses.

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- ivanafterall@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Thought this might do it for me, but still no.
  
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escapedgoat@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m pretty sure the scene from Mallrats was based on me. I stood and stared at those at the mall for days and could never see them. Finally one day - 20ish years later it finally clicked and now I can see them.

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ilinamorato@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yep. There was one on the Sunday comics page every week when I was a kid, and I learned how to do it then. I never understood the people who can’t do it, or thought it was fake.

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Krudler@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yes, you have to imagine you are looking into a mirror at yourself and focus your eyes on that place; look past the image.

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MycelialMass@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Im in my 30s and learned a few years ago, my brother in law showed me how. Was super cool, I had always thought it was people trolling

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