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Author Topic: Why do 3D movies induce headaches and nausea? Harold Hallikainen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 906 From: Denver, CO, USA Registered: Aug 2009 posted 04-21-2016 09:31 AM                        http://www.electronicproducts.com/Multimedia/Video/Why_do_3D_movies_induce_headaches_and_nausea.aspx Researchers have completed an eight-year study that looked at why 3D movies typically leave an audience feeling ill afterwards. The research was led by Dmitry Vatolin, a senior research fellow in Graphics & Media Lab, the Lomonosov Moscow State University. To explain the study, Vatolin cited a 2011 poll by a French publication. The poll, which asked how people felt after watching 3D movies, found that only a third of viewers said they had no trouble watching. 27% felt ‘certain discomfort’, 22% reported a ‘worsening condition’, 7% stated they had a ‘terrible headache’, and the remaining 11% said they felt worse than when the movie started, but cited other reasons as to why. The reason why viewers experience these symptoms when viewing a 3D movie is due to the brain reacting to “wrong” images coming to both eyes simultaneously; it’s not a natural visual that the brain is accustomed to processing. As such, the brain needs to combine them in order to produce a stereo effect, if you will. Taking a closer look into the biological effect, Vatolin and his team were able to name 15 recurring reasons for this problem, all of which can be organized into one of two bigger flaws with the technology: either it’s due to an imperfection in the equipment, or it’s because of an error in the formatting of the movie itself. The former is explained as being the result of distributors looking to reduce expenses, which leads to a lower quality final product. It includes things like cheap glasses, faulty projectors, and other tools that often worsen the quality of the viewer’s experience. The second reason is more complicated; as such, it’s not always detectable and preventable. To overcome this hurdle, Vatolin and his team created a collection of programs to allow for the tracking of formatting errors in 3D movies. Using these programs, the team scanned 105 Blu-ray movies and compiled stats on some 10,000 errors. Among them, there were 65 scenes in 23 movies in which the left-right view were swapped; studies indicate that when a viewer sees this error on the screen, it causes the greatest amount of pain / discomfort. Worth noting: these were not under-the-radar movie titles. They included the likes of Avatar, The Chronicles of Narnia, Stalingrad, and more. “That means, that the probability of buying a Blu-ray 3D movie with at least one scene with swapped left and right views is about 21%, which is quite significant for sensitive people,” explains Dmitry Vatolin. He added that the type of movie with the greatest percentage of errors were horror movies, which can be explained by their smaller budgets. “Stereo movies go through their transition period now,” Vatolin explains. “Cinema producers start preferring stereo format, it became particularly popular after a fantastic financial success of Avatar. Of course, the quality of the movies increases, and as well does the quality of cinema equipment. Now the quality is often higher, than Avatar had, but significant decrease in problems may take about 2-3 years more. Right now looking for a good 3D quality you need to choose high budget movies and properly equipped cinema halls. Wish you fewer headaches!”  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-21-2016 09:46 AM                     Ugh. How stupid. This article fails to mention the fundamental physical flaw with watching 3D movies: our eyes weren't designed to work that way. In normal, everyday life our binocular 3D vision always has the convergence point (the point where our two eyes are aimed) aligned to the focal plane. When we look at a particular object our eyes converge and focus on that object. Watching a 3D movie breaks apart the relationship of the convergence point and focal point. The viewer is being asked to focus on a stationary object (the screen) while independently shifting the convergence point at positions in front of and behind the screen. It's physically possible for us to do this, just like we can cross our eyes or throw them out of focus -but who wants to do that for 2+ hours? Scientists and engineers can talk all they want about changing technology for 3D movie presentations, but as long as we're watching movies on a large, flat, two dimensional screen that problem with 3D will always be present.  |  IP: Logged Jason McMillan Film Handler Posts: 68 From: Houston, TX, USA Registered: Dec 2009 posted 04-21-2016 03:28 PM                     To be fair, we've had more people throw-up in Hardcore Henry than any 3D film we've had.  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 04-21-2016 04:47 PM                     Additionally I have seen some scientific shows where they talk about 3D vision and how binocular 3D is only a small component of why we see 3D naturally. Apparently the biggest factor is very tiny movements of our heads and our eyes seeing things from slightly different angles consistently. Our brain uses this information to figure out what is in front and what is behind. Essentially, stereoscopic 3D is just taking advantage of an optical illusion. Like Bobby said, seeing that illusion causes our eyes and brain to do abnormal things. Think about it, if you close one eye you don't suddenly see the world as flat nor do you lose all depth perception. 3D movies don't look like "real life" 3D. It looks like individual flat objects printed on transparent material and then each "plate" is set at a different depth. That is part of why I don't like 3D, no matter how well it is done, for anything more than a 5 minute theme park experience where they throw images out at you.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 04-21-2016 06:37 PM                     The brain isn't used to work with 3d information from a flat screen. Thus, it's working overtime to consume that information where inflammation, which is what a headache is, takes place. Then add 'shaky cam' on top of it and you definitely have a mess on your hands.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 04-21-2016 07:18 PM                     +1 to Bobby's answer. Also, the negative effects will be exacerbated if the 3D is poorly produced (improper L/R registration). This happens more frequently than you'd expect. And, of course, it's a dimmer image -- 5fL versus 14fL. I suspect that this Dmitri guy is attempting to position himself as a potential 3D guru for the industry.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 04-21-2016 08:25 PM                        Another aspect that I haven't heard much talk about is astigmatism and how it affects viewing 3D. If someone has an uncorrected astigmatism, it's probably going to result in seeing ghosting or some other issue since your normal focal point is going to be different than someone with 'normal' vision.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 04-21-2016 09:17 PM                        Regular films shown at 6 ft/lamberts or less have similar problems with low light level 3D. When Technicolor 3d (film) was out, I did several tests with real people at extreme light levels: (150 ft/lm on scope became about 19 ft/lm on the 3d. No one had these troubles even those who wore 3d glasses over their glasses. Most comments were: "No headache!"  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-21-2016 11:40 PM                     quote: Lyle Romer Think about it, if you close one eye you don't suddenly see the world as flat nor do you lose all depth perception. Actually you do lose depth perception. Your brain tries to fill in the gaps. But we have TWO eyes for a reason. quote: Lyle Romer 3D movies don't look like "real life" 3D. It looks like individual flat objects printed on transparent material and then each "plate" is set at a different depth. That is part of why I don't like 3D, no matter how well it is done, for anything more than a 5 minute theme park experience where they throw images out at you. Some 3D movies look much more convincing than others. The ones that were shot in 2D and converted to 3D very often have the floating cut-outs look. Outsourced 3D conversion "artists" in India and China working at a nearly impossible deadline can't convincingly add volumetric 3D to stuff that was filmed flat in 2D. There's no time and budget for that. Content that was shot with dual camera 3D rigs, such as Avatar look quite a bit more convincing. Movies that are entirely digital rendered, like any Pixar movie, can look perfect in 3D, provided both left and right eye views are rendered. That might not always be the case. Add to this certain effects of depth exaggeration. I think this is another reason why movies are still being converted from 2D to 3D rather than being shot natively in 3D. The native 3D material might be too subtle. So the post production guys take some flat 2D material and pimp the schiznit out of it into 3D. Way exaggerated 3D.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 04-22-2016 12:09 AM                        quote: Bobby Henderson Actually you do lose depth perception. Your brain tries to fill in the gaps. But we have TWO eyes for a reason. I was acutely aware of this earlier this week. I was working on something where I had to reach way under a counter, and I only had one eye above counter to see to line something up. It took me a few tries to get the right alignment because I didn't have the same depth perception.  |  IP: Logged

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