Magic Eyes in Motion on Windows Pc

You saw "Magic Eye" in still pictures, and now, Magic Eyes in Motion.

A brief note on depth perception

To device stereo audio to fool our ears into "hearing" stereo sound, is way much easier than to device stereo image to fool our eyes into "seeing" stereo scene. Firstly, the scene (be it still or motion pictures) has to be produced in such a way that the "depth" information is encoded into the scene seemlessly. And secondly the viewer will need a device to mount over their eyes in order to decode the "depth" out of the sene. For example, to see the stereo 3D effect (the "depth" of a scene) in a moive theater, you need to wear a pair of specialized glasses.

One of the most "handy" way to see stereo 3D effect has been known for decades as the "Magic Eye." It's handy because, while the production of the stereogram encoding the depth information is just as tedious as in other 3D motion pictures, you don't need to mount anything over your eyes; the naked eyes will do the trick.

But then, if you have not yet had the wonderful experience of Magic Eye, you might want to google "Magic Eye" for some hints and tips as to how you can get started fast and easy. Or, if you have been a happy Magic Eye person for years just like me, then read on...

Magic Eyes in Motion

Now you can watch and play the stereo 3D animation by using the very same Magic Eye. Just position the phone screen in its landscape orientation and place it in front of your eyes 20 to 40 cm away, just like you have been doing the Magic Eye before. Lo and behold, a hexagonal tunnel spins in space and a few astroids flies through the tunnel and come toward you.

How to Play

At the start-up, this application enters the stand-by mode and await your tapping action on the screen to start. Note that the text at the bottom of the screen is NOT prepared for the Magic Eye.

Starting from Level 1, and through Level 7, you will have 60 seconds at each level to retrieve the flying astroids coming through the spinning tunnel. The spinning tunnel exerts a centrifugal force on the astroids and thus pushing them toward the walls of the tunnel. The objects will crash and burn when hitting the walls of the tunnel, or arrive at your side safely if you manage to drag and thus slow down the spinning speed of the tunnel. Slower spinning speed exerts small centrifugal force, you know the physics.

For each object arrives at your side (or rather, for each object you catch), you get one point. You need at least one point at each level to advance to the next level. The flying speed (toward you) of the objects decreases, and the idle spinning speed of the tunnel increases, as the level goes from 1 through 7. You know what I am doing.

If you get through Level 7, and I must admit you gotta be so good at touch-screen drag control, the game will loop back to Level 1. And at each loop back, the flying speed (toward you) of the objects, level to level, will decrease further and further.

For the beginners, Level 1 is designed to get you familiar with the scene. Astroids at this level fly fast enough to reach your side (and score) regardless the exerted centrifugal force. You don’t need to drag the spinning tunnel at this level, but of course you may choose to as a exercise. Starting from Level 2 though, you will have to drag on the screen to slow down the spinning.

So, have fun watching and playing. Be aware of the astroid crash-bang audio effect. It could be very loud and noisy to other people near you.

What's next?

We will fly through the tunnel and out to the Space for some adventure. Coming soon, I hope.

Extra Credit

The background picture was retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hannys_voorwerp.jpg

2011/11/24: fix auto-scaling for large screen
2011/05/13: fix blank texture due to NPOT png