A short guide to our web-based stereo viewer — interactive 3D display of stereo photographs straight in the browser, no install required.
What the viewer does
A stereo photograph is a pair of images (left + right) that together compose a 3D image. The viewer can display it in several ways depending on the gear you have:
- Anaglyph — a single colour-shifted image viewed through red-cyan glasses. Works on any regular monitor; glasses cost a couple of euros.
- Parallel view — two images side-by-side, each eye looks at its own. No tools needed but takes practice — you have to focus “through” the screen.
- Cross-eye view — opposite arrangement to parallel; some people find it easier. Requires a slight squint.
- Wobble — the photo gently rocks between the left and right frames. Your brain reads depth from the motion, much like looking with one eye and slightly moving your head — closer and farther objects shift relative to each other. No glasses, no training needed.
- VR mode — for a phone in cardboard goggles (Google Cardboard etc.) or a dedicated VR headset with a web browser.
How to use it
On a page with a 3D photo, the viewer loads automatically. Just open the page in any modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) — WebGL support required, and that’s standard on essentially every device today.
Use the viewer’s control panel to switch the display mode and tune eye separation. Settings are saved in the browser, so you don’t need to set them again next time.
VR usage
For the full 3D experience we recommend a VR headset. The setup is simple:
- Open the page on your phone (cardboard goggles want the phone in landscape).
- Switch the viewer to VR / side-by-side mode.
- Slide the phone into a cardboard headset (Google Cardboard, Merge VR, BoboVR, etc.) and tap Play — a slideshow starts after a short countdown. Hold your head still and looking straight during the countdown; that direction becomes the centre for zoomed-in views.
Head-motion controls during the slideshow
- Tilt sideways (ear toward shoulder) — flips photos forward or back. The bigger the tilt, the faster the cycle.
- Look up — the photo “drops onto your face”, zooming in.
- Look down — zooms back out.
- While zoomed in you can look around the photo — the centre is wherever the phone was pointing at the start of the slideshow (after the countdown).
On dedicated WebXR-capable headsets (Meta Quest, Apple Vision Pro via Safari) the viewer offers an immersive-mode button right in its control panel.
Tips for the best experience
- If parallel/cross-eye view doesn’t click for you right away, don’t worry — it takes a bit of practice. Start with wobble mode, which needs nothing.
- Anaglyph glasses are a few euros at any toy or stationery shop, or online. Works on anything with a colour screen.
- If 3D images strain your eyes, lower the eye-separation slider in the settings — a milder 3D effect is more comfortable for sensitive viewers.
- Photos load at full resolution, so on slower connections the image may take a moment. Wobble and anaglyph still work as the photo is loading; quality improves once it finishes.
When something breaks
The viewer is a beta — if something doesn’t show or behaves oddly, please let us know via contact. Send the page URL, your browser, and what happened — that lets us track the issue down and fix it.