But Is It Just Entertainment?

Magic Eye pictures are fun. They’re like a crossover between a quirky visual illusion and a little puzzle for our eyes. But they also have very important academic value. Stereograms were invented by a scientist for a reason: because they can tell us a lot about the way our eyes work.

How is it that we have this strange ability to turn a seemingly random collection of dots into a cohesive 3D image? The answer lies in the fact we have two separate eyes, something the scientists call binocular stereopsis. But it’s not just that…