The Hands-Free Approach to Seeing 3D Pictures
-- Understand How to Control Your Eyes --

(Please note that this page explains how to see 3D pictures without 3d glasses. This is called "free-viewing".)

There are a few basic ways of looking at 3D pictures without the assistance of a viewer or 3D-glasses. Normally, if you look at or read something on the computer monitor, you aim your eyes directly at the surface of the monitor. 

The method of 3D viewing that is utilized on these pages is called cross-viewing or the cross-eyed method. It entails the following: you aim your eyes so that the lines of sight of your eyes cross in front of the image. When you cross-view, the muscles inside your eye controlling the focusing lens, contract strongly and shorten. 

On top of each stereo image you will find three dots: a black dot flanked on each side by a red one:

Make certain that you are facing the picture squarely, at normal viewing distance from the monitor. When you start to look cross-eyed (phase 1), you will observe that the black dot seems to split in two; the red dots moving inward and the black dots outwards: 

Phase1:  

Continue to look more cross-eyed until the red dots move past the black dots (phase 2) and you finally have two red dots merging in the center to form a single red dot, flanked by two black dots (phase 3): 

Phase2:  

Phase3:  

When you have achieved this, your eyes will "lock" into the stereo image and you will see a 3D picture in the center, flanked by a blurred version each side. At first, the 3D image might come in blurry. Give your mind a chance to organize itself and the 3D image will become sharp and clear. Try to practice this with the photograph above.

If you come across the old side-by-side stereo photograph cards (made to be viewed with a hand-held or table stereoscopes or stereo-opticon), you can use the cross-viewing method to free-view these images exactly the same way as you would the images on these pages. 

Note that this method is in no way harmful to your eyes. Please read the FAQ's if you are worried about causing eye strain.