Jump to content
 







Main menu
   


Navigation  



Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
 




Contribute  



Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
 








Search  

































Create account

Log in
 









Create account
 Log in
 




Pages for logged out editors learn more  



Contributions
Talk
 



















Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 History  





2 Experience of zograscope viewing  





3 Explanation  





4 Construction of modern variation  





5 See also  





6 References  





7 External links  














Zograscope






Català
Čeština
Dansk
Español
Français
Nederlands
 

Edit links
 









Article
Talk
 

















Read
Edit
View history
 








Tools
   


Actions  



Read
Edit
View history
 




General  



What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Get shortened URL
Download QR code
Wikidata item
 




Print/export  



Download as PDF
Printable version
 




In other projects  



Wikimedia Commons
 
















Appearance
   

 






From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


Large table-top viewer for vue d'optique prints. Late 18th century
An example of a picture designed for viewing under a zograscope equipped with a mirror, its text written right-to-left.

Azograscope is an optical device for magnifying flat pictures that also has the property of enhancing the sense of the depth shown in the picture. It consists of a large magnifying lens through which the picture is viewed. Devices containing only the lens are sometimes referred to as graphoscopes. Other models have the lens mounted on a stand in front of an angled mirror. This allows someone to sit at a table and to look through the lens at the picture flat on the table. Pictures viewed in this way need to be left-right reversed; this is obvious in the case of writing. A print made for this purpose, typically with extensive graphical projection perspective, is called a vue d'optique or "perspective view".

Zograscopes were popular during the later half of the 18th century as parlour entertainments.[1] Most existing ones from that time are fine furniture, with turned stands, mouldings, brass fittings, and fine finishes.

According to Michael Quinion, the origin of the term is lost, but it is also known as a diagonal mirror, as an optical pillar machine, or as an optical diagonal machine.[2]

In Japan, the zograscope became known as 和蘭眼鏡 (Oranda megane, 'Dutch glasses') or 覗き眼鏡 (nozoki megane 'peeping glasses'), and the pictures were known as 眼鏡絵 (megane-e, 'optique picture') 繰絵 (karakuri-e 'tricky picture').

History[edit]

Experience of zograscope viewing[edit]

Zograscopes created an unprecedentedly realistic experience of depicted scenes, so much so that Blake (2003) described it as "virtual reality".[5] A zograscope allowed viewers to move their eyes over very large scenes, yielding an immersive experience.

Koenderink et al. (2013) showed that viewing photographs with a zograscope allowed observers to see depicted objects, such as Rodin's Danaid (Rodin), in objectively measured depth.[11]

Explanation[edit]

Magnification of images was well understood by the time the first devices were constructed in the early 18th century. Basically, the image is placed at the focal point of a biconvex or plano-convex lens (amagnifying glass) allowing someone to view the magnified image at varying distances on the other side of the lens.[11] Court and von Rorh (1935) suggested that the popularity of the early French models was because they allowed presbyopic purchasers to see the images clearly despite the French fashion against wearing glasses.[9] But Chaldecott (1953) doubted this could have been the sole reason for the devices' enduring popularity, leaving the major factor to be the realistic appearance of the depicted images.[3]

A zograscope makes a realistic experience for someone looking through it is by enhancing depth perception. One way is by minimizing other depth cues that specify the flatness and pictorial nature of the picture. The image is magnified, perhaps giving it a visual angle similar to the real scene the picture is depicting. The edges of the picture are blocked by the frame of the lens. The light coming from the lens to the eyeiscollimated, preventing accommodation. In early prints of interior scenes, some objects were hand-tinted with saturated colors whereas the background was tinted with "a pale wash"[5] exploiting color contrast as a depth cue.[12]

A second way a zograscope could enhance depth perception is by creating binocular stereopsis. Because each eye views the image from a different position, the surface of the picture could have binocular disparity from different magnification for the two eyes or from differences in the rotation of the images received by the eyes, so-called cyclodisparity.[11] Such disparities create an overall slant of the picture surface around the vertical meridian[13] or horizontal meridian[14] respectively. As well, coloured parts of the image will be refracted differently for each eye, creating a version of chromostereopsis. Even if the binocular disparity were incorrect for the surface of the image or any coloured parts of it, the stereoscopic information tends to integrate with the other depth information in the image.

Construction of modern variation[edit]

A simple zograscope can be built from a frame (by cutting a rectangular opening in the bottom of a cardboard box) and placing in the frame a large, magnifying, fresnel lens available from stationery stores. When this is placed over a computer monitor displaying a photograph of a natural scene, the depicted depth will be enhanced.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Permutt, Cyril (1976). Collecting Old Cameras. New York: DaCapo Press. pp. 23, 27. ISBN 978-0-306-70855-8.
  • ^ Worldwidewords.org
  • ^ a b c d e Chaldecott, J.A. (1953). "The zograscope or optical diagonal machine". Annals of Science. 9 (4): 315–322. doi:10.1080/00033795300200243.
  • ^ Dee, J. (1570). [A very fruitfull Præface made by M. I. Dee, specifying the chiefe Mathematicall Sciẽces ...] In H. Billingsley, The elements of geometrie of the most auncient pholosopher Euclide of Megrara. London: John Daye. Retrieved from www.gutenberg.org
  • ^ a b c d e Blake, E. C. (2003). Zograscopes, virtual reality, and the mapping of polite society in eighteenth-century England. In L. Gitelman, & G. B. Pingree (Eds.), New Media, 1740-1915 (pp. 1-30). Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press. Retrieved from https://mitpress-request.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/content/9780262572286_sch_0001.pdf
  • ^ "Peep-show box - Oxford Reference". oxfordreference.com.
  • ^ "Peepshow". visual-media.eu.
  • ^ Wagenaar; Duller; Wagenaar-Fischer. Dutch Perspectives.
  • ^ a b Court, T. H., & von Rorh, M. (1935). On old instruments both for the accurate drawing and the correct viewing of perspectives. The Photographic Journal, 75(February), 54-66. Retrieved from https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-75/734093?q=rohr%201935>
  • ^ Clayton, Tim (1997). The English Print 1688-1802. pp. 140–141.
  • ^ a b c Koenderink, Jan; Wijntjes, Maarten; Van Doorn, Andrea (2013). "Zograscopic Viewing". i-Perception. 4 (3): 192–206. doi:10.1068/i0585. PMC 3690410. PMID 23799196.
  • ^ Troscianko, Tom; Montagnon, Rachel; Clerc, Jacques Le; Malbert, Emmanuelle; Chanteau, Pierre-Louis (1991). "The role of colour as a monocular depth cue". Vision Research. 31 (11): 1923–1929. doi:10.1016/0042-6989(91)90187-A. PMID 1771776.
  • ^ Ogle, K. N. (1950). Researchers in binocular vision. New York: Hafner Publishing Company.
  • ^ Blakemore, Colin; Fiorentini, Adriana; Maffei, Lamberto (1972). "A second neural mechanism of binocular depth discrimination". The Journal of Physiology. 226 (3): 725–749. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1972.sp010006. PMC 1331173. PMID 4564896.
  • External links[edit]


    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zograscope&oldid=1171732464"

    Categories: 
    Precursors of film
    Audiovisual introductions in 1746
    Magnifiers
    Optical toys
    Hidden categories: 
    Articles containing Japanese-language text
    Commons category link is on Wikidata
    Articles with GND identifiers
     



    This page was last edited on 22 August 2023, at 22:04 (UTC).

    Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



    Privacy policy

    About Wikipedia

    Disclaimers

    Contact Wikipedia

    Code of Conduct

    Developers

    Statistics

    Cookie statement

    Mobile view



    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki