Looking Glass VR

Windows to the past are open at last

elcome to Looking Glass VR! Looking Glass VR is a mobile VR based 3D photo viewer which brings hundreds of historic 3D photos from around the world into focus. Looking Glass VR is available on Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR.

history of stereoscopy

“It is a delightful characteristic of these times, that new and cheap means are continuously being devised, for conveying the results of a casual experience to those who are unable to obtain such experiences for themselves; and to bring them within the reach of the people.” —Charles Dickens

ven amongst virtual reality enthusiasts, most people don’t realize that the first 3D viewer was developed in 1838 by Charles Wheatstone - almost 180 years ago! Since before the popularization of television, radio, cinema, or virtual reality, people have been exploring the world through immersive stereo 3D images. Since the invention of the stereoscope, up through the mid 20th century, hundreds of thousands of stereographic photos cards were produced and distributed all over the world. Though nearly forgotten, these photo cards can again be viewed as intended, thanks to the advent of mobile VR.

the collection

he stereo-photos you see in Looking Glass VR are selected excerpts from the Keystone View Company’s ‘Tour of the World’, a tiny glimpse of Keystone’s internationally themed stereo photography collection. From 1892 to 1933, over 300,000 such cards were produced. In 1978, the company's records and inventory of negatives were donated to the UCR/California Museum of Photography at the University of California Riverside, where they are now known as the Keystone-Mast collection.

how to use looking glass vr

Make sure you have a supporting headset, either Samsung Gear VR or Google Cardboard headset. (One with a trigger!)
Install Looking Glass VR from either Oculus Home (Gear VR) or Google Play (Cardboard).
Turn on your WiFi & launch the application.
Let the application download more content, or just hit start to use what you have.
Click your trigger on the stereoscope to get started.

If your Cardboard device does not have a trigger, you can use a bluetooth controller to interact with the application.

credits and thanks

Looking Glass VR was

created by
Joe Boyle

lead programming by
Luca Mefisto

3D art by
Kevin Castaneda

web dev by
Kevin Olson

and lettering by Tobias Saul and illustration by Matt Weems. Web design by Maher Sinjary. Prototyped with the help of Suzanne Leibrick. Sound effects used from freesound.org. (A B C D E F G H) With music from the Open Music Archive.