Mantis-Shrimp Stereogram Lab™

Generate live Magic Eye stereograms — deutan-friendly by default.

A mantis shrimp sees 16 color channels. You have 3 (or 2, if you have deuteranomaly). This lab is calibrated for the full human range — including the parts that diverge from the so-called "normal" spectrum.

Depth Shape

Color Palette

Viewing Mode

Preview

Your stereogram will appear here.

Choose a shape and palette, then click Generate.

Diverge Method (Magic Eye)

Hold the image close to your face (nose almost touching screen)
Relax your eyes as if looking at something far behind the screen
Let the image blur — two overlapping copies will appear
Slowly pull back while keeping your eyes relaxed
The 3D surface will snap into focus

Cross-Eyed Method

Hold one finger between your face and the screen
Focus on your finger until the background doubles
Slowly move finger away while keeping the doubled image
The 3D surface appears in the center copy

🧿 Deuteranomaly note: The deutan-friendly palette uses blue-yellow contrast (S-cone channel, fully intact in deuteranomaly). If the classic grayscale version is easier to lock, that's completely valid — use what works for your eyes.

The Science Behind the Lab

🔬

SIRDS Algorithm

Each pixel's horizontal shift encodes its depth. The formula: sep(x,y) = E × (1 − depth_scale × d/32). Your brain fuses the two eye views into a single 3D surface.

🧿

Deutan-Friendly Palette

Deuteranomaly affects M-cone (green) sensitivity. The blue-yellow palette uses the S-cone channel (fully intact) for high luminance contrast without red-green confusion.

📡

MIT Pencil Beam Insight

Like the MIT self-organizing pencil beam laser, stereograms turn chaotic input (random dots) into a focused, coherent output (3D surface) — through the right constraints.

Want to go deeper?

Download the Excel Formula Sheet

Full depth map formulas, color mapping math, and viewing instructions — formatted for Excel, Google Sheets, or handing to a developer.

Markdown format — opens in any text editor, Notion, Obsidian, or GitHub.