3D technology has been around for more than a century. The first public 3D-test screenings took place in New York in 1915, organized by Edwin Porter and William Waddell. Despite its long and rich history, the technology has mainly been used for what the industry intended: to generate three-dimensional illusions in the most realistic manner possible. Despite its long history, 3D was never developed beyond this initial ‘trick’.
We wanted to develop 3D as an instrument that can be used for the representation of two image streams, one for each eye. We thought of phenomena such as ‘binocular rivalry’, which occurs when each eye receives a different picture. Instead of seeing the two images mixed, we see one after another. Other interesting visual manifestations are ‘multi-stable visual perception’, the spontaneous alternation between two or more perceptual states that occur when the sensory information is ambiguous, and ‘interocular suppression’, which occurs when one eye is watching a moving image, while the other one sees a stationary image. Instead of seeing the two images mixed, the stationary image is always suppressed for longer periods.
Our main aim was to find a way into the digital 3D cinema infrastructure so we could use the full potential of the technology, make adjustments, abuse and come to a new, innovative and special application. With Bini Oculus (‘double vision’) we explore the possibilities of two-eyed vision and create new experiences that lie beyond the 3D illusion.
* Bini Oculus is the third research project in a series of cinematic studies Testfilm which investigate the implications of new technological developments in digital cinema for the world of experimental film and expanded cinema.
INFORMATION
2017 / 30’ / 3D / live audiovisual performance
Image & sound by Telcosystems
Produced by Spatial Media Laboratories in collaboration with Klankvorm (NL)
Supported by Creative Industries Fund NL, City of Rotterdam
Additional support by Centre for Visual Arts Rotterdam
PERFORMANCE
Klankvorm, V2_, Rotterdam, NL, 2017