Stereogram Jigsaw Puzzles

If you have never heard of a Stereogram image then you are in for a real treat as long as you can master the true essence of the image. By that I mean, you need to be able to see what’ s inside the ‘looking glass ’ . Follow me with this one because it' s worth viewing. I assembled this Stereogram jigsaw puzzle back in the 1990' s, likely 30 years ago. I do not have any photos but I do recall the border as being very daunting and I relied fully on the random shapes of the pieces. On the website you can see in the close up photos, the image pattern is completely repetitive and intentionally blurred at the bottom to generate the 3D Sensation. I was captured immediately by the 3D Sensation of the Stereogram jigsaw puzzle when I read it on the box. It is one of the first times I discovered there are sometimes extras added to a basic puzzle image. Now I constantly look for that unique extra within a puzzle. That said and once the puzzle was assembled, I had it mounted to a thin board and using the 'No-Glue ' method I have the shrink plastic wrap covered over it.

I still have this puzzle on the wall as Christmas decor so I can enjoy the 3D Sensation of the built-in Stereogram. If you have been lucky enough to experience the visions inside these images you will know how superb they truly are.

Some Stereograms are designed for ‘divergent’ viewing, meaning instead of

looking directly at an image, you ’ re supposed to look right through it by “ over

diverging ” your eyes. Other illusions are meant to be viewed cross-eyed.

While some people are able to see the 3D image hidden in a stereogram naturally, others will have to train their eyes to see the illusion.

Try these methods

To see it, you need to hold up the image close to your face at first so the nose touches it and slowly pull the image away. At this distance your eyes cannot focus on the image and they look somewhere behind the image.

Then, slowly push the image away from you, while trying to keep the eyes off focus. At some point you will see the hidden image.

Another method is to take an object and put it behind the image (about half of a meter behind it). Now, focus on the object behind the image while keeping the eyes looking at the image.

The one I found to be most helpful is to have someone hold a piece of flat clear glass (as in a picture frame glass) over the image and let the light shine on the glass. Stare at the ‘light’ reflection or your own profile in the glass for a moment or two and then the image will surface. It’ s kinda like looking into the mirror on the wall as if there is a spot on it - rather than looking at yourself in the mirror. Hope THAT makes sense - eek! There are more photos of the Merry Olde Santa jigsaw puzzle in the article on the website and also several other 3D Sensation puzzles plus actual books on these amazing images. Enjoy!