One eye observing vs. two

Ok here we go...two eyes are always better than one and I have only one ep to look through...but I still view certain objects with both eyes open in certain situations...anyone else know what I'm talking about? :S (To be clear I'm not wearing an eye patch.)

Greg

People have discussed this in other forums- its just an oddity of brain mechanics, I guess. Like the fact that although in using a binoviewer the beam splitter cuts the light (in a perfect idealized system) to 50% for each eye, the brain makes us think that we are actually getting much more than that (some people say as much as 75 or 80%). So its an illusion, but a good one.

Having ANYTHING in view in the eye not actually at the focuser probably activates the same enhancement/contrast system, even though the images in each eye are radically different. But remember that in our stereo view each eye isn't going to be getting completely identically distributed images (in terms of photons) anyway. Illusory depth perception is an added bonus using two eyes, even when there isn't any real contrast (as at infinity).

BTW, I've been toying with an idea to create a new type of beam-splitter, one that doesn't use a static 50/50 split but rather a chemical cycle that alternatingly throws light to one eye, then the other, faster than the eye can distinguish. It might give us the illusion of near 100% in each eye. Based on brand new nanotech that's being funded by the army.

Jess Tauber