Falk Gärtner's blog

Designing content for Stereoscope has its challenges. As our matrix consists of two towers facing each other, has a pretty low resolution and small range of brightness there are some things to consider when creating content for it.

Here are some tips from us:

• High contrast is always a good idea - as high as possible that is. If you think the contrast looks too high on your computer screen its probably not even enough. Greyscale photos are barely visible as is. 1bit animations are the best visible obviously. Videos work less good then shape animations. Big shape animations work better then small shapes. Do not put in too much detail.
• Work with the two towers individually - if you have bright animations consider putting them only on one tower - or alternate between the towers. Its actually nice to play with the reflection that way. If you have a white screen on the west tower the east tower will be extremely washed out.
• If the animations are too fast swish-swoshing across the screens then you are only seeing the afterglow of the lamps - it can be a nice effect but remember that this will hinder the visibility of what is actually shown. Keep it slow. Think about the sheer size of the building: people need time to track movements.
• The outer parts of the towers are also not visible from many positions - that's especially important if you want readable text. Take a look at our 3D simulator to test the looks of your stuff from various viewing positions and angles.

Setup Crew 5Setup Crew 4Setup Crew 3Setup Crew 2Setup Crew

We had the first two nights where an aware observer could spot some blinking pixels on the east tower.
First Day of BlinkentestingSecond Day Blinkentesting

Some pictures from the setup process with the 4th floor already blinking and some impressions of the house with most foil on the windows.