Poll: First Person and 3D - the same part of the brain?

[mlooshka]

So last week my husband and I went and saw the Avengers in 3D. We saw it on opening night in 2D and it was fabulous (obviously, since I went to see it again). And honestly - the 3D ruined it. Some scenes gave me headaches, other scenes looked paradoxically more "flat" than they had in the 2D. I spent a lot of the film covering up one of the lenses of my 3D glasses, just so I could watch the story.

So after the film I was ready to have a ***** session about the awful 3D and it turns out that my husband didn't have the same experience - he said it didn't really add anything, but that it didn't ruin it by any stretch. I've asked other friends who have seen it, and I seem to be the only one having this experience. This being the first feature movie I've seen in 3D since the days of red and blue glasses (yep, I'm old) I came to the conclusion that it must be something in how *I* process the 3D.

Now, I also can't game in first person. I appreciate a game that has an optional first person mode, as it can be mechanically useful on occasion - but a game where the camera is ostensibly stuck inside my character's head? Can't do it. I can't navigate the 3D world like that, especially in frantic situations. Everything becomes confusing, I lose all sense of spacial awareness, and the whole thing just becomes a sickly swinging mess.

So I wonder - is the part of my brain that won't let me play in 1st person the same part of my brain that can't process 3D? Your thoughts, escapists? I know there are others here that have the same issues with 1st person - and the 3DS has shown us that 3D doesn't work for everyone. And who knows - maybe there's even a neuroscientist gamer who can explain this in terms of perception centres in the brain. Stranger things have happened.

 

[Lilani]

You may just have a mild mix of tunnel vision and motion sickness, both which are common reasons some people don't do well with 3D movies or first person games. I doubt they are always related, but I wouldn't be surprised if the groups commonly intersect.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

That's because 'movie 3D' isn't real 3D.

It's like a pop up book, where several planes are organised to give the illusion of 3D, but because it's not really 3D, some people's brains just don't process it very well.

 

[srm79]

It's not always a brain thing either. Stereoscopic 3D requires you to have true binocular vision. If, for example like me, you are partially blind in one eye or have other ocular defects then it won't work. All I ever see is a fuzzy picture, and usually a headache follows if I spend more than a couple of minutes looking at it.

I can play just fine in first person though.