Magic Eye images: Can You See Them?

[MikeTheC]

I first remember the Magic Eye 3D images thing from the early 1990s, back when they were all the rage. I can vividly recall calendars and other such things adorning lockers and walls in employee areas, or on desks, and people being able to see the 3D stereoscopic imagery that's embedded in each one.

However, I have never, in all that time, been able to see even one single hidden image.

I was talking about this with my girlfriend tonight and thought I'd post this here and find out if there's anyone else on this board who, like me, is unable to see the stupid things.

For those unfamiliar with what I'm talking about, here's a link (http://www.magiceye.com/samples.html) to the manufacturer's samples page with bunches of samples, none of which resolve into anything for me, even *if* I know what I'm looking for in advance.

[Sealbhach]

I can see them, it just takes practice. For me, I find it easiest to pretend I'm looking at something way in the distance while holding the image up before my eyes. It's just a matter of changing your focus. It's worth it though, some of the images are really really stunning.

.

[GeneralZod]

"It's not a schooner; It's a sailboat!"

Yes, but it took a while and I found that all the advice I was given for how to see one was actually pretty useless: what you actually have to do is cross your eyes in such a way that one of the repeating elements in the image precisely overlaps its neighbour: rather like, if I held two identical vertical rods up in front of my eyes, crossing my eyes until I saw not two, not four but three rods, with the "middle" one being the left and right rod superimposed.

I remember seeing some magic eye images that made this a little more explicit: at the base of the image were two plain circles, with the instructions to cross your eyes until they doubled then overlapped (so that you "saw" three circles). The spacing of the circles was such that when you achieved this, you would be gazing in the correct way required to see the magic eye image.

[katgfan]

I can't see them. I tried a lot of them and almost got cross-eyed and it never worked for me. Even tried all the tricks they recommend. My wife can see in in a flash.

They say a small number of people really can see it.

BTW im also one of them people who always blink and have droopy eyes on "all" photo's with flash.

[MikeTheC]

I'm glad to know I'm not alone in my lack of mad 3D stereoscopic imagery-seeing skillz. :p

I've tried many, many times over the years, but for me, the images will never be anything more than curious 90s-style tie-die imagery. C 'est la vie.

[vegetarianshrimp]

I love those things!

[wojox]

I could never see them. I thought I was the only one. All my friends said they could see it. I just wanted to go punch a hole in the poster.

[starcannon]

I fall in the "Sometimes" category.

[SunnyRabbiera]

"It's not a schooner; It's a sailboat!"

Yeh I was about ready to bring up mallrats myself

[Sealbhach]

It helps to imagine you're not looking at a flat surface but instead into a deep 3D space and that you're looking into the distance and waiting for the fog to clear.

.

[anaconda]

i can't see them,

To see them properly you need to have 2 good eyes., (stereo sight)
But unfortunately my left eye is a lot weaker than the good one..

I can't even see the 3D images from those old red/green photos, which you needed the reg/green glasses to look them.
Most of those new 3D displays wont work for me either.,

[MikeTheC]

It helps to imagine you're not looking at a flat surface but instead into a deep 3D space and that you're looking into the distance and waiting for the fog to clear.

.

Well, don't you think 15+ years is an awful long time to wait for the fog to clear? :p

[cariboo]

I wonder if this has anything to do with being partially color blind. I have a blue/green deficiency, and I've never been able to anything.

[darco]

wow...those are pretty cool....reminds me of the Seinfeld episode....

Just unfocus your eyes and bam its there!

darco

p.s. the hidden lettering tho is hard to make out for me....

[subdivision]

Yep.

[swoll1980]

I can see them, it just takes practice. For me, I find it easiest to pretend I'm looking at something way in the distance while holding the image up before my eyes. It's just a matter of changing your focus. It's worth it though, some of the images are really really stunning.

.

Like he said. You just have to give it "the 1000 yard stare" Look beyond it, and it will come into view. this one (http://www.magiceye.com/client/value.html) says "value"

[subdivision]

Sometimes holding the image up to your nose, relaxing your eyes, and slowly pulling it away does the trick too.

[Bölvaður]

it's so stupidly simple. just look for some repeatedly drawn object on the image and focus on it, then defocus it so it will combine with the next object on the image.

d d d d d d d d d d
↑
make this d blend to the next d to the right ←

[thisllub]

I wonder if this has anything to do with being partially color blind. I have a blue/green deficiency, and I've never been able to anything.

No.

I am colorblind and I see them easily.

Out of curiosity how is your general vision?

[magmon]

I cant see them either. Its just a lump of pictures.

[Chemical Imbalance]

I don't think I ever was able to see those damn hidden pictures.

Stupid things.

[Incense]

I never had any issues seeing them. Drove my friends nuts. For those of you who can see them, this one is pretty wild.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stereogram_Tut_Animated_Shark_Small.gif

[Sealbhach]

I never had any issues seeing them. Drove my friends nuts. For those of you who can see them, this one is pretty wild.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stereogram_Tut_Animated_Shark_Small.gif

Oh yeah! Saw it after about 12 seconds. I've never seen a moving one before.

.

[mikebeecham]

these things were great...I remember having loads of these posters around the house. Some of the better ones had pictures within pictures. You really had to strain yourself, but I was able to see a couple of these 'double' pictures.

You ended up feeling really sick or your eyes hurt after a while.

Great fun though!

[hatten]

I could see them when i was younger, but now, 3+ years later i have only seen the edges of a picture.

[PartisanEntity]

Never been able to see them, no matter how hard I try, or how long I wait. *raises fist at image*

[philliptweedie]

Really happy to no longer be in the minority I thought I was!

I have never been able to see them.

[Chemical Imbalance]

I never had any issues seeing them. Drove my friends nuts. For those of you who can see them, this one is pretty wild.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stereogram_Tut_Animated_Shark_Small.gif

Hey, I can see it! Woohoo!

Mark that as one down for me.

[ajcham]

To see them properly you need to have 2 good eyes., (stereo sight)
But unfortunately my left eye is a lot weaker than the good one..

That's not true, at least for me - I'm short-sighted in both eyes, the left moreso than the right, but I can still see them, even without my glasses.

It is perhaps different if you are long-sighted or have astigmatism.

[gn2]

I will never be able to see them.

[HermanAB]

I guess the people who can't see them are at least partially colour blind.

[Mike'sHardLinux]

I am quite colorblind and I can see them. Not totally colorblind, but have trouble with a lot of colors.

My approach is to purposely cross my eyes. I can adjust how much they are crossed, so I cross them and then slowly uncross them and at some point, I guess depending on the focal point, I am able to see the image. Some images take longer than others, but I am always able to see them.

Am I the only one who does it this way???

Oh, almost forgot, one of my eyes is noticeably stronger than the other, too.

[MrD_scifi]

When I first came across them I struggled for ages to see the images. But then I figured it out. I just cross my eyes, relaxing them, then I draw the focus back and forth, flexing my focus until i can push the focal point into the distance, past the the image and 'focus' on a spot behind where it actually is.

Interestingly the practise has made these images quite easy to see too :
(unfocus and make 3 images appear, the centre one is the 3d image created by putting two pics side by side with a gap between that were taken 10degrees apart.
(10 degrees is approx created by moving camera 2 inches to the side for every foot away from subject)

[hatten]

When I first came across them I struggled for ages to see the images. But then I figured it out. I just cross my eyes, relaxing them, then I draw the focus back and forth, flexing my focus until i can push the focal point into the distance, past the the image and 'focus' on a spot behind where it actually is.

Interestingly the practise has made these images quite easy to see too :
(unfocus and make 3 images appear, the centre one is the 3d image created by putting two pics side by side with a gap between that were taken 10degrees apart.
(10 degrees is approx created by moving camera 2 inches to the side for every foot away from subject)
I simply cannot manage the first step, i have to train my eyes!

[chessnerd]

Just got a 2010 calendar of Magic Eye images. They are awesome! I feel bad for my sisters because they can't see them...

[starcannon]

I can see them in "real life"; however, I can not see them on a computer screen, I don't know why I can see them in one medium and not another, but thats my case.

[00ber n00b]

Everyone(assuming you have 2 eyes) is capable of seeing the images. Doesn't really matter about eye sight or color. The problem is knowing how to control the focus of your eyes. I can see them on paper, monitor. I can see the 3D photos that were posted previously. I can see the swimming shark that was posted earlier. All at an instant.

[00ber n00b]

Also, the swimming shark has a flaw. Before I say what it is...can anyone else see it?

[dragos240]

Can't see them.

[jwbrase]

Everyone(assuming you have 2 eyes) is capable of seeing the images. Doesn't really matter about eye sight or color. The problem is knowing how to control the focus of your eyes.

Not everybody. I will agree that it's not colorblindness or near/farsightedness that causes the problems. Rather, it is problems with coordination of the two eyes. I cannot see Magic Eye pictures, likely because I had problems with strabismus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strabismus) as a child, which I eventually had surgery for.

[RabbitWho]

You'll never be able to see them if you can't see or don't look out of both eyes.

I can't see them usually unless I'm wearing glasses, because I usually look out of my good eye, which was my bad eye when i was a kid, but then the good eye got tired and stopped working so the bad eye got up off its lazy *** and became the good eye.

[Keyper7]

I don't know much about color-blindness, but the images "work" for me even after converting them to grayscale. Does that invalidate the theory?

[Keyper7]

When I first came across them I struggled for ages to see the images. But then I figured it out. I just cross my eyes, relaxing them, then I draw the focus back and forth, flexing my focus until i can push the focal point into the distance, past the the image and 'focus' on a spot behind where it actually is.

Interestingly the practise has made these images quite easy to see too :
(unfocus and make 3 images appear, the centre one is the 3d image created by putting two pics side by side with a gap between that were taken 10degrees apart.
(10 degrees is approx created by moving camera 2 inches to the side for every foot away from subject)

I simply cannot manage the first step, i have to train my eyes!

Focus on something behind the picture. You have to look at the picture but not focus on it.

[00ber n00b]

Not everybody. I will agree that it's not colorblindness or near/farsightedness that causes the problems. Rather, it is problems with coordination of the two eyes. I cannot see Magic Eye pictures, likely because I had problems with strabismus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strabismus) as a child, which I eventually had surgery for.

I disagree. I still say anyone who has 2 eyes, that can see, can see these images. The problem is the people just don't know how to control their eyes. Just like people that can move their ears or nose. Same concept.

[00ber n00b]

Focus on something behind the picture. You have to look at the picture but not focus on it.

This might work for some. Some people, you tell them to cross their eyes and they cross them as far as they will go. That's not how to see the images. Try this, put your mouse in the middle of the screen. focus on it. cross your eyes so that you can see Two cursers/arrows. Now try to push the two as far apart as you can. Then try and slowly bring them back together. Don't look at either one of them. Look in the middle of the two.
Does this help anyone?

[mick222]

At first i couldn,t see them but after following the insructions here http://www.magiceye.com/faq_example.htm . things became clear you have to learn to focus just behind the image.

[forrestcupp]

Focus on something behind the picture. You have to look at the picture but not focus on it.


At first i couldn,t see them but after following the insructions here http://www.magiceye.com/faq_example.htm . things became clear you have to learn to focus just behind the image.

Right. You're supposed to focus on something behind the image that is equally distant to the image as what your eyes are. That's why they say if your screen has a reflection of you, that is the perfect thing to focus on. The reason that works is because at the point of the picture, your eyes will be crossed at just the right angle if the image is exactly half way to your point of focus.

Then once you have separated your eyes into stereo and the 3D picture comes into view, it is fairly easy to focus on it and see exactly what it is.

By the way, the images in the link in the original post are somewhat difficult to see compared to others. If you're having a hard time seeing them, check these out here (http://www.ixtlan.ru/images.php#). They're a little easier.

The bad thing is that once you start seeing them, when you come back to the forums the letters jump off the screen. :)

[SwatKat]

I couldnt see it at first either. Then I closed my eyes for half a minute, held the picture right upto my nose as instructed, opened my eyes and slowly started moving it away from my face and I could see it!! The image jumps out and becomes clearer as you move the picture farther from your face. Its quite amazing!

Focus is the key. Its easier if you close your eyes for a few seconds, relax and start over. You know you are not focusing right if you can read any text on the page clearly.

[jwbrase]

I disagree. I still say anyone who has 2 eyes, that can see, can see these images. The problem is the people just don't know how to control their eyes. Just like people that can move their ears or nose. Same concept.

The point is that some people have physical conditions that *prevent* the kind of fine eye-control or vision processing needed. For people like me, who developed strabismus late in childhood, it's probably an issue of too-weak control. For people who developed strabismus in infancy and didn't have it corrected early, the problem is stereoblindness in addition to weak control: Their brain never learned to combine the images from both eyes correctly because it couldn't get them aimed correctly. Generally the signal from the eye that was properly aligned gets processed and the signal from the other eye gets ignored unless the dominant eye is closed.

[aaaantoine]

When I first came across them I struggled for ages to see the images. But then I figured it out. I just cross my eyes, relaxing them, then I draw the focus back and forth, flexing my focus until i can push the focal point into the distance, past the the image and 'focus' on a spot behind where it actually is.

Interestingly the practise has made these images quite easy to see too :
(unfocus and make 3 images appear, the centre one is the 3d image created by putting two pics side by side with a gap between that were taken 10degrees apart.
(10 degrees is approx created by moving camera 2 inches to the side for every foot away from subject)

Images 1, 2, and 4 are simply too big for me to focus on using the Magic Eye method, and 3 is inverted... which looks really strange using the ME method.

For these particular images you have to cross your eyes instead, which could be easier for some people (it is for me). This is not the same as magic eye, but far more vivid.

Picture 3 reminds me that stereoscopic video gaming cannot come soon enough.

[Sahkolihaa]

I can see every one of them. I know how to focus my eyes to see them. :)

[hatten]

At first i couldn,t see them but after following the insructions here http://www.magiceye.com/faq_example.htm . things became clear you have to learn to focus just behind the image.

Didn't help, i saw three squares but no *spoiler*.

I also tested "separating the cursor", i can do it, but no picture appears.

I tried several times with closing my eyes and opening them again. No success.

[ratcheer]

I cannot see them. I worked on the Ford logo example for a while and was able to see a 3-D effect, but I still could not identify the hidden Ford logo, itself.

Tim

[marshmallow1304]

Try this, put your mouse in the middle of the screen. focus on it. cross your eyes so that you can see Two cursers/arrows. Now try to push the two as far apart as you can. Then try and slowly bring them back together. Don't look at either one of them. Look in the middle of the two.

That's how I've always done it. The "look through it and not at it" never worked for me.

[solitaire]

I love those Hidden Eye pics!!

A Trick forthe "Cross-Eye" pics is to hold the pic arms length an place your finger in the center of the pic and focus on that. Then move the finger half way between your nose and the pic, still looking at the finger. Then shift your focus to the pic and you should be close to getting the image!

The skill is VERY usefull for those "Spot the diffrence" puzzels in magazines! lol cross your eyes so one pic is over the other and you can spot the changes very easily...

[00ber n00b]

I see them so easy. I just glance and most of the time the image just pops out.

[forrestcupp]

I see them so easy. I just glance and most of the time the image just pops out.

You must have pretty crappy regular vision, then. :)

[00ber n00b]

You must have pretty crappy regular vision, then. :)

You trying to call me cross eyed? :D

[Redundant Username]

http://www.magiceye3ds.com/howtosee3d.aspx
Woot! I can see them! If you can't see them, cross your eyes and slowly move your face closer to the monitor.

[00ber n00b]

http://www.magiceye3ds.com/howtosee3d.aspx
Woot! I can see them!

Maybe a lot of people try and cross their eyes by trying to look at their nose?! Which as a bad way of doing it.

In that how to if you go past the 3 dots to where you see 2 sets of 2 the image will double. ;)