A couple weeks ago, I posted a Flash experiment moving an object to different specified depths. In that post, I mentioned that I was assuming values for three variables that I could not measure:

• Pixel density, or how many pixels per inch your monitor is displaying.
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• Pupillary distance, or how far apart your eyes are.
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• Monitor distance, or how far away you are sitting from your display screen.

This experiment shows the effect of those three variables on anaglyph display. If you set those three values to the right numbers for your own eyes and monitor, these coins will appear at their actual size and actual depth to you.

(If this file is running too slow on your computer, I made a simplified version with fewer coins, which should work better on slower machines.)

If you don't know your pixel density, don't guess: you can measure it yourself here. Your pupillary distance actually won't matter much, unless you are sitting very close to your monitor.

The depth of each coin is actually based on its face value. For instance, all of the 2-euro coins are two inches in front of your monitor.

All of the 1-euro coins are one inch in front of your monitor.

All of the 1-cent coins are one inch in back of your monitor.

All of the 2-cent coins are two inches in back of your monitor.

All of the 5-cent coins are five inches in back of your monitor.

All of the 10-cent coins are ten inches in back of your monitor.

The coins used in this picture total 6.46 euros. (I had a large budget for this project.)