Mood:  incredulous

I've talked a lot about Joshua and his problems with Asperger's Syndrome, but I haven't talked much about my oldest son, John Allen. When John Allen was 15 months old, he was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer called Retinoblastoma. Retinoblastoma (RB) is a childhood cancer that usually hits infants and toddlers between the ages of birth and 5 years old. The primary goal of physicians who work with RB children is, of course, to save the child's life, with the close secondary goal of preserving the eye. However, when John Allen's RB was diagnosed, the tumor was so large that his pediatric ophthalmologist suggested enucleation (removal of the eye). John Allen's left eye was enucleated November 7, 1997. A few months later, he was fitted for an artificial left eye.

One of the problems of having only one eye is depth perception. Thankfully, God made us so that some parts of our brain take over when other parts are damaged. So, although he will never be able to see like a person with two eyes, he does have some depth perception. Nevertheless, however hard your brain works, there are some things that can't happen without two eyes. Like seeing 3-D.

I know that John Allen has never seen anything remotely in 3-D. He goes to the 3-D shows at amusement parks and theaters, and faithfully puts on the special glasses, but they really don't do anything for him. He doesn't see things the way the others do. Nothing comes out of the screen. Nothing has any depth. It's just a fuzzy flat picture.

As a homeschooler, I am notorious for signing up for anything free that I can. Yahoo groups, newsletters, emails, you name it, if it's free and has anything to do with education, I probably am signed up for it. One of the email newsletters that I'm signed up for is a weekly science experiment written by Robert Krampf from www.thehappyscientist.com . In one of his last emails, he talked about...you guessed it...3-D. 3-D chalk to be exact. This prompted me to write to him about something I had been curious about for a long time. Can someone with only one eye see in 3-D? Here is his response:

 Hi Tim,

Have a wonder-filled day.

Rob Krampf

 

The link is to a picture taken by Jaime Martinez, the artist who developed this technique. I have since corresponded with Jaime and become Facebook friends (what else?) with him. Click here for more of his pictures including several excellent 3-D pictures. (Be cautious however. Although, the 3-D pictures are fantastic, some of his other work can be quite graphic. Make sure you peruse his site before allowing your young ones to view it.)

 

When I showed them to John Allen he became so excited! He could actually see depth! They actually seemed 3-D! In fact, when I shut my left eye, it seemed to me like I could see them better. Take a look yourself. Just press the play buttons on each picture. When we originally saw them, they were in a loop mode where they shook continuously. For some reason it's not allowing me to loop these, but I think that the four seconds that it lasts will be long enough for you to get the picture (no pun intended )! This is still in the experimental mode, but someday, John Allen may be able to see a real 3-D movie!

 

Thank you, Lord, for making us intelligent creatures. Thank you for giving men the intelligence to create things for our enjoyment. Thank you for people like Jaime Martinez who are creative enough to develop this method of seeing 3-D.

 

 

 

And here are the pictures:

 

 

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