174 THREE-DIMENSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHYwill be used for published reproduction. Again we wonder why.
Right now we can publish excellent stereograms, anyone can learn
to see them in less than an hour and the quality is infinitely supe-
rior to the best the integrated stereogram can ever hope to match,
in fact better than the Vectograph can produce. And it is all set,
ready for use by anyone at any time.
And the process is proven. For three years the Third Dimension
has regularly carried stereograms, usually transposed, at times un-
transposed, but always with a normal or less-than-normal separa-
tion. Guild members regularly view these stereograms without a
viewer and apparently have found the method fully satisfactory.
So, we have a proven method by which published stereograms can
be seen by the reader without benefit of viewer. Is this free vision
or not? Certainly it is an acquired skill, but so is reading.
We have no axe to grind regarding integrated stereo. Scien-
tifically, it is extremely interesting; there are many uses for it
where it will be extremely valuable. There is no denying the great
amount of genius which has gone into its development, and cer-
tainly stereo is richer for having it. But as a matter of practicality,
most purposes served by it, or which may in the future be served
by it, are served better by a process existing today and freely avail-
able-if only the public would abandon its erroneous, precon-
ceived ideas and recognize the truth about this stereo which we
have with us right now.
The trouble with stereo is not so much faults of the process,
which are extremely few, but with the public which condemns
without understanding. Truly “it isn’t the process, it’s the people.”
See Chapter^13 for historical and other discussions of integrated
stereograms.