3D Film Cures a Man of Stereo Blindness

3D Movies have sparked a rabid debate polarizing film fans from drooling for more, to aggressively spewing bile at it. What makes the debate even more interesting is that both sides tend to have very valid points.

But this is something I don’t think either side would have predicted. A man with a visual impairment inadvertently found himself “cured” of the condition after a 3D movie rebooted his brain to see differently.

67 Year old Bruce Bridgeman from Santa Cruz, California suffers from a visual condition called stereoblindness – the process in which the brain translates depth based on the combined images received by two eyes (or in stereo.) To Bruce, the details around him simply blended into their backgrounds. He learned to deal with seeing the world in 2D patterns as he has never experienced it any other way.

But after viewing Martin Scorsese’s 3D film Hugo this past February, his brain appears to have reprogrammed itself and he was suddenly experiencing the world in staggering 3D!

At first he thought his premium 3D ticket was a waste of money considering his condition, but shortly into the opening credits he was stunned by how vivid and detailed the floating text and backgrounds appeared. But while he might have thought this was some side affect of his condition and the 3D glasses, the 3D experience didn’t stop when the movie ended.

Bruce now sees in full depth of three dimensions and is able to see as anyone without the condition would. Imagine after 67 years of understanding the world through stereoblind eyes, and to suddenly be able to process depth and see details he previously could not? I don’t know if I could describe the emotion he must have been feeling, but it was probably pretty overwhelming.

Visual therapy is one way that doctors deal with steroblindness, and in some cases the condition can be limited or compensated by re-training the brain to process what it is seeing. Speculation says that after the initial 3D trick the cinema glasses played on his brain, the sensation stuck with him for the duration of the film. While uncommon, the relatively brief therapy session was a breakthrough for Bruce.

I bet he does not regret his choice to see a 3D film that night!

[Via | Eye Picture Via Bigstockphoto.com]



Beautiful: Views from the ISS at Night [Video]

Every frame in this video is a photograph taken from the International Space Station. All credit goes to the crews on board the ISS.

[Knate Myers]

Earhart Explorers Gather Data, Not Answers

A multimedia expedition to find the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s plane has failed to achieve immediate results. Investigators failed to spot any wreckage but have collected extensive sonar and video data for further analysis.

Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, making her a celebrity of her day. In 1937 she attempted to fly a crewed mission around the world with what would have then been the longest circumnavigational route, sticking closely to the Equator.

On a second attempt, Earhart and colleague Fred Noonan (pictured) flew east from California and had made it as far as the Nukumana Islands in the Pacific. Staff at the next scheduled stop on Howland Island lost communication and, despite a US Navy search, neither the crew nor their plane were seen again.

Now the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery has conducted a $2.2 million expedition looking for signs of the wreckage. They are exploring the theory that Earhart may have crash landed on or near the island of Nikumaroro (perhaps on a reef flat) and survived for some time. Earlier visits have found items that may have come from the plane, including what could have been Earhart’s shoe. A 1937 photograph showed what may have been the plane’s landing gear in the water.

The expedition was cut from 10 to five days after problems maintaining the equipment under water, including multiple accidents. Though staff didn’t spot any wreckage, that doesn’t mean they didn’t come across it. The video equipment used only allows “live” viewing at standard definition, but records in high definition. That footage will now be reviewed by a forensic imaging specialist.

The project team hopes to have more conclusive findings from the sonar data and video recordings in time for an August 19 documentary airing on the Discovery Channel.

Awesome LEGO Unboxing Timelapse Video

So this musical pair Daniel Larsson and Tomas Redigh, who call themselves “Rymdreglage” spent an incredible 71 hours sorting out 100 boxes of LEGO, which each contain 650 blocks (that’s 65,000 blocks!) – and they made a time lapse of it:

Now there’s some epic LEGO playtime. But for what purpose might you be sorting out 65 thousand freaking LEGO blocks by size and color?

Well Rymdreglage are currently in the process of making “8-bit Trip2”, a sequel to a hit video they released in 2009:

I don’t know about you, but I’m eagerly awaiting it.

[Via Nerd Approved]

Wi-Fi Robot to the Rescue

Students at Northeastern University have developed a rugged robot that deploys Wi-Fi where it goes and uses GPS and its own Wi-Fi for control, meaning its range is pretty much limitless. It also has the ability to drop repeater units in order to broaden its range and has an on-board camera to help the operator navigate.

With audio and images able to be relayed back through the repeater chain, the military uses are obvious. However, I think it would also be useful for setting up temporary Wi-Fi in other professions too – I imagine archaeologists could make good use of it, and explorers and travel reporters too.

Who needs a St Bernard with a keg of rum around its neck when you can send it a trusty robot wifi to get you out of a bind!

Here’s a video of their nifty little gadget. The music made me giggle.

[Via GeekGadgets]

Cool Tee: DeathstaR2-D2 T-Shirt

This is what the rebels should have done with those stolen plans.

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