stereoscope

[ ster-ee-uh-skohp, steer- ]

noun

1. an optical instrument through which two pictures of the same object, taken from slightly different points of view, are viewed, one by each eye, producing the effect of a single picture of the object, with the appearance of depth or relief.

stereoscope

/ ˈstɪər-; ˈstɛrɪəˌskəʊp /

noun

1. an optical instrument for viewing two-dimensional pictures and giving them an illusion of depth and relief. It has a binocular eyepiece through which two slightly different pictures of the same object are viewed, one with each eye

stereoscope

/ stĕr′ē-ə-skōp′ /

1. An optical instrument through which two slightly different images (typically photographs) of the same scene are presented, one to each eye, providing an illusion of three dimensions. Modern virtual reality equipment often uses a stereoscope that presents animated, computer-generated images to the eyes, rather than photographic images.
2. ◆ A stereogram is a single pair of photographic images used in a stereograph.
3. See also stereoscopic vision

Word History and Origins

Origin of stereoscope¹

First recorded in 1830–40; stereo- + -scope

Example Sentences

Over the years, he has patented several ways to make a shallow three-dimensional picture that’s visible with the naked eye, often by strobing between two similar but incongruent frames like a kind of overlapping stereoscope.

From New York Times

It numbered 4,500 images — different size glass negatives, stereoscope and nitrate negatives, prints and more.

From Seattle Times

The collection includes prints, plus glass, nitrate and stereoscope negatives.

From Seattle Times

But in the studio, if you have two flat photographs, one taken with the position of the camera at your right eye and one at your left eye, and you look at them through a stereoscope, there’s a moment when your brain changes those two flat photographs into an illusion of depth.

From Los Angeles Times

But to do so, De Gracia took the samples, a stereoscope, vials, a scale and many books home from her lab in Naos, near where the Panama Canal meets the Pacific Ocean.

From Seattle Times