International Journal on Stereo & Immersive Media

Cover, Editorial Details and Contents

Victor Flores — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 12:47:49 +0000

Cover, Editorial Details and Contents

Panoramas as Memory of the World: An Immersive Media Art Form as Documentary Heritage

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Coined in the 1790s, the term “panorama” originally described a purpose-built rotunda containing a circular painting that immersed viewers in a depicted place or event. Though presently understood as fixed in their locations, panoramas were typically designed to be circulated. This was accomplished either by transporting the canvas between rotundas, or by moving the entire structure, either way subjecting them to wear and tear. Surviving heritage examples endured in part because they became stationary exhibits; but whether mobile or fixed, the geographic location of display was—and, importantly, remains—intrinsic to their meaning. Panoramas are geographic documents that combine painting, architecture, lighting, and visitor movement to create an illusion of scale, aligning—or productively misaligning—subject and site in space and time. Recognition in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program would bring attention to an archive that is geographically distributed rather than institutionally centralized. The International Panorama Council is uniquely qualified to define and interpret a dispersed archive that invites critical engagement with place-based histories of visitation, visualization, political formation, and the built environment.

Peeping Into Abstract Worlds: Tracing the Kaleidoscope from Optical Instrument to Immersive and Therapeutic Media

Anna Ter-Gabrielyan — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Bridging interdisciplinary perspectives, this article presents the kaleidoscope as a significant case study of self-directed perceptual technology in the history of immersive media. Using a media-archaeological approach, the study traces the device’s journey from Sir David Brewster’s 19th-century optical invention to its roles in contemporary therapy and immersive art. The article argues that the kaleidoscope endures because it mediates a recursive relationship between agency and perception—specifically through the interplay of tactile control, visual symmetry, and temporal fluidity. By contrasting the device with representational peep media, the analysis shows how it generates endless, abstract, non-narrative images that foster an embodied experience and cognitive regulation. This mechanism is explored across diverse contexts from its controversial beginnings as a ‘philosophical instrument’ to its clinical validation as a tool for reducing anxiety, to its transformation in large-scale installations by artists like Olafur Eliasson and teamLab. In these modern works, the principle of self-directed seeing evolves from tactile manipulation to viewer mobility. Ultimately, this study posits the kaleidoscope as a foundational ancestor of contemporary immersive technologies.

Spectres of Phantasmagoria: Recreation and Analysis of the Soundscape of Robertson's Spectacle

João Ferreira — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a specific entertainment show was conquering Europe: the Phantasmagoria. One of its most prominent authors was Étienne-Gaspard Robertson. This paper examines Robertson’s highly frequented rendition at the Convent des Capucines in Paris, maps his inventions and novelties in the show, and, by focusing on the sound elements, creatively reimagines the soundscape of this precinematic experience. Methodologically, the study combines a close reading of period accounts with a creative digital reinterpretation of the Phantasmagoria’s sound environment, employing historically informed sound design and spatial modelling to replicate its auditory effects. The resulting analysis suggests that sound functioned not simply as atmospheric accompaniment but as a central mechanism through which the spectacle shaped spectators’ perceptions, emotions, and beliefs.

New Approaches to Stereoscopic 3D Film Production: Enhancements to a Unique Medium

Bruce Fitter — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article presents a research project exploring the unique potential of Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) cinema through experimental techniques that challenge traditional 2D filmmaking conventions. The research identifies two key areas for experimentation— frame shape and haptic vision—to demonstrate how S3D can offer immersive experiences that are not possible or are greatly diminished in 2D formats. This study investigates non rectangular screen shapes, such as ovals, and their effects on depth perception and emotional engagement. Additionally, it explores haptic vision, aiming to evoke tactile-like sensations through the manipulation of convergence, focus, and colour. The research culminates in the S3D film No Race, which incorporates Indigenous Australian-inspired contemporary dance to illustrate the narrative possibilities of these experimental methods. This article highlights S3D’s transformative potential for multi-sensory storytelling and challenges traditional 2D biases in cinematic production.

Sobre as Câmaras Escuras Primitivas, ou Paleo-Câmaras: Contributos para uma História dos Dispositivos Óticos

Ricardo Martins Geraldes — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Terá a câmara escura uma história mais antiga do que se imagina? Estudos recentes em arqueologia sugerem que certos monumentos megalíticos terão sido utilizados como câmaras escuras. Indiciando a existência de paleo-câmaras, estes estudos mostram como, desde tempos ancestrais, o fenómeno óptico da câmara escura poderá ter sido empregue para fins simbólicos, revelando uma história mais antiga do que aquela que se supunha. Como terá decorrido o processo de apreensão deste fenómeno? Terá alguma contingência possibilitado o seu surgimento? Este ensaio propõe trazer uma proto-história da câmara escura para os estudos dos media. Analisado à luz da arqueologia dos media, o objetivo será perceber e considerar de que forma o fenómeno óptico que funda a câmara escura mediou desde tempos arcaicos uma experiência com a natureza.

Palavras chave: câmara escura; arqueologia dos media; pré-história; técnica; imagem.

Experiencing Landscape as a Visual Event: Dynamic Hyperstereoscopy and the Emergence of Perceptual Space

Martin Dokoupil — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Dynamic hyperstereoscopy is an experimental stereoscopic technique that continuously adjusts interaxial disparity to generate a shifting perception of spatial depth. Instead of imitating visual stability, it presents space as a temporal and embodied phenomenon shaped by the viewer’s adaptive engagement. The research investigates mountainous environments whose complex spatial structures surpass the integrative limits of natural stereopsis. The footage was captured using two drones. The analysis of the qualitative responses indicated a recurring sequence: initial disorientation, followed by perceptual adaptation and improved spatial attunement. The approach is grounded in enactive and embodied perception theory, and is characterised by its aesthetic and investigative nature. The film resonates with the aesthetic principles of slow cinema, a genre that prioritises duration and sensory immersion over narrative clarity. A forthcoming film is set to extend the project into an immersive context, treating spatial ambiguity as an experiential medium and inviting viewers to perceive depth as a dynamic, cognitive process rather than a fixed visual illusion.