Webtales

With the show coming up, I’ve had a lot of time to really think about what it is I like about this medium. Here’s one idea.

Stereoscopic images were quite popular in the early 20th century. There are 3D photographs of Abraham Lincoln. There are 3D photographs of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Long before television or radio, these images were a means of taking the viewer “somewhere else.”

The biggest problem with people viewing 3D today is time. We are all used to fast information. Our time is precious and we try to do a lot of things very quickly so that we can do more things, etc. Time is the enemy.

Time is the friend of 3D. Because of the complexity of the illusion, the longer one looks at the 3D image, the deeper and richer it gets. 3D images are SLOW INFORMATION. They demand a certain amount of time to unfold. Once that happens, 3D images are all about wandering around inside the image.

3D images are a great place to daydream, to dawdle, to waste some time.

I’m reminded of “The Wooze” that used to be in Vacaville. It was a giant maze that was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the proprietors decided to put a punch clock at the beginning of the maze. The idea was to see how fast you could run through. This is totally counter-intuitive to the whole idea of mazes, which is to experience getting lost and having time to wander and think. There is a great straw maze in Ardenwood that is more in tune with this spirit. Those folks build a new puzzle on two acres of land each year. The results are spectacular.

So the trick to watching 3D is to slow down. It amazes me that many people will insist they can see everything in 30 seconds when I know the illusion takes at least 2 minutes to set up properly. Even more interesting, folks seem to feel the suggestion to slow down is a comment on their ability to perceive things. Really. It is not a contest.

There is a lot of value to slow information. One of the best parts is the inescapable tendency for viewers to make up their own stories about the images. It is human nature to find patterns. It is one of our basic survival skills. Part of the fun of 3D is giving yourself permission to tell yourself a story. Slow information is interactive. It waits for you to fill in the gaps, to add your own pieces to the puzzle.

I like that.