Stereoscopic photography on the cheap

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photo hack

I received a Nintendo 2DS as a gift. The 2DS is a downgraded version of the Nintendo 3DS handheld game console. To cut price (2DS retails at about $150 AUD), Nintendo removed the 3D display but interestingly it still has a pair of front facing cameras. The photos are saved into the .MPO format, and can be loaded and processed by many programs running on computers. I used the XstereO Player on a Macbook Pro to create the Red/green stereogram.

The cameras are only in VGA resolution (640x480). The results are certainly not stunning but they probably can be used for education and home hacking. I find the stereo effect quite convincing.