- Author
- Not stated (Wikipedia contributors)
- Published
- Last edited 16 October 2026
- Kind
- Encyclopedia article, collaboratively written
- Original
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autostereogram
- Subject
- Images made by rules
- Themes
- What the senses do
What it is
Wikipedia contributors wrote this reference article. It explains how autostereograms work, how computers make them and how to view them.
What it says
- An autostereogram is one 2D image that creates a 3D illusion without a stereoscope.
- Repeating a pattern at a smaller spacing makes that area appear closer to the viewer.
- A depth map is a grayscale image that sets the pixel shift for each point.
- Bela Julesz invented random dot stereograms in 1959 while working at Bell Laboratories.
- Christopher Tyler made the first black-and-white random-dot autostereogram in 1979, with programmer Maureen Clarke.
- Viewing needs the eyes' focus and convergence to be decoupled, which can be trained.
- People with amblyopia cannot see the 3D images, though one patient regained stereo vision.
What evidence it gives
The article gives worked examples with pixel spacings of 140, 130 and 120. It cites papers by Wheatstone, Julesz and Tyler. It offers no new experiments.
Interests and limits
Wikipedia is open to editing, so the text reflects its contributors at one date. The article carries tags noting a disputed neutrality statement and an unverified quotation. Viewing tips are given without testing.
Connections
These links are this wiki's own reading, not claims the sources make.
- Photos taken inside musical instruments. Focus stacking inside an instrument removes depth cues, so small spaces look huge. An autostereogram goes the other way, hiding depth in a flat pattern. Together they suggest depth is inference, not sight. Both edit what the eye uses to judge distance.