Sexual differences in visual depth perception

[Susan Pinsky]

Is it just me, or do men seem to have a higher tolerance for vertical and horizontal discrepancies in 3D depth perception? I've been in this field for over 30 years and whenever there is projection of a 3-D show of still images or a 3D film I feel that men seem better at accepting/accommodating misalignment of an image. My eyes don't seem to twist and adjust nearly as well as the male species. Any small amount of vertical misalignment and my head goes into headache mode.

Going digital has had an immense positive effect on minimizing this problem, but it seems there are still some problems with misalignment when the creator is not striving for ultimate visual comfort.

Fortunately there have been a lot more totally comfortable film creations lately, but the shows projected with still images still seem to need improvement. Windowing is so important, and optical comfort is paramount to enjoying a presentation.

I won't go into the joke about why women's depth perception is warped because of men telling them how big 6 inches is, but honestly, has anyone else found this gender concept to be true? Have you ever walked out of a 3-D presentation with your eyes and brain all askew only to find that the men around seem to have no problem? This is truly something I've experienced for the last 30 years.

 

-- Susan Pinsky