3D Vision has become a very hot topic. "3D vision" refers to the ability of a person to fuse the information received from the two eyes together. This fused picture can be used to recognize whether the object is moving toward you, its distance, its depth, its velocity, and its projected destination.
Stereopsis is only possible when accurate and precise visual binocular fusion is present. In cases of strabismus and lazy eye, many patients are unable to appreciate stereopsis. Stereopsis is seldom present in patients who underwent eye muscle surgery in an attempt to correct their strabismus.
Stereopsis has also become a "hot topic" in education
Because it has been shown to be an extremely effective method of teaching certain types of complex educational material. Some educators have won national awards for the work in creating 3D Vision presentations of educational materials.
Dr Colin Kageyama's optometric practice finds that 3D Vision is a good indicator of the quality of binocular vision. A patient can have eyes which are cosmetically straight, but not actually use both eyes at the same time. Such a patient would have little or no stereopsis. When these patients are taken through a program of vision therapy and true fusion is achieved, one of the best indicators that progress has been made is their increased ability to see depth on 3D targets.
3D Vision has important implications to some jobs which require accurate awareness of distance. It can be important for driving, sports, and any skills that involve hand-eye coordination.
When working with patients who have learning related vision problems, children often consider increased stereopsis and 3D vision to be a more important benefit than their improved reading. We have seen children come running into the therapy room in an excited manner saying, "I caught a ball today!"
Stephanie was a 26-year-old teacher at a local school. She had a history of strabismus and no depth perception.
She started vision therapy on 7/28/2005. In October of the same year, she went on a camping trip in the mountains and noticed...
"I was looking under a tree and suddenly the branch of the tree started to stick out! It was SO COOL! I had to pull the branch back and walk under the tree. Everyplace I looked, branches were sticking out at me. This is 3D Vision! I could believe it… I got out from under the tree and started running under tree to tree shouting ‘the forest is 3D!!!’ All the other people in my group must have thought I was crazy but I was so excited! It was so cool!
Thank you Dr Kageyama!"