Critical Alignment
enhanced three dimensional perception for the viewer
About Critical Alignment
Critical alignment is a parallax visualization technique in which two images with overlapping content are aligned to a common point in both views. The resulting aligned images are subsequently alternated at a certain fequency to produce an enhanced three dimensional perception for the viewer. Critical alignment and parallax induction form the basis of the Company’s Real Shot digital advertising technology. The combination of true three-dimensional parallax information and the standard monocular 3D cues are what makes the Real Shot animation “pop” off the webpage.
Critical alignment is accomplished by exploiting certain psychophysical mechanisms of the human visual system, especially those visual mechanisms associated with short-term visual memory and depth mapping. Parallax imagery presented in an alternating fashion evokes an autostereoscopic response; empirical evidence indicates that the ideal frequency of alternation to maximize three dimensional perception is 4.3 Hz. Upon being critically aligned, the alternating pair of images will invoke a high sense of depth and texture previously lost on display. The enhanced dimensionality of these alternating pairs can be viewed on any standard unaided display.
Stereoscopic Displays and Animations
There is a need for critical alignment tools in stereoscopic post-production. Improperly aligned stereoscopic pairs contribute in large part to the fatigue felt by viewers when watching stereoscopic content. Critical alignement tools can greatly reduce this fatigue by providing an effective method for setting accurate stereoscopic convergence points. Contemporary methods of 50/50 layers and/or image difference maps cannot achieve high levels of sub-pixel alignment because these methods rely on the user to match two semi-transparent images at common points or edge that are difficult to discern. Transformations made on alternating imagery allow for an extremely high level of critical alignment in all vectors at a sub-pixel accuracy.