Each point on the resulting two-dimensional photo is the sum of all the light rays striking that location.
As the two-dimensional photo becomes 3D plasticine and returns to two dimensions, it acquires an indefinable new texture of plastic pathos.
But Hughes reminds us that the objects we "see" don't necessarily have the fundamental qualities we perceive, especially when we're working with limited information, such as a grainy, two-dimensional photo.
"YOU can carry your own head in your hand," enthuses Bre Pettis, inviting customers to try out a three-dimensional photo booth that will scan their head and then print a miniature plastic version of it as a solid object.
The short answer to the question posed to Times readers about "how we experience art museums" (letters, Aug. 17) is through a tacky, two-dimensional photo taken by a tacky, tiny hand-held camera or cellphone.
Many of the guests in the crowd -- which included PETER GALLAGHER, TOMMY HILFIGER, LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM and BENJAMIN BRATT -- stayed long enough to be photographed at the large wooden GQ letters that had been set up on the red carpet as a three-dimensional photo prop.
It also means that the feature shouldn't be susceptible to trickery, such as unlocking for a two-dimensional photo of you instead of the real thing.
He then prints the results — images of fruits, vegetables and vases — and turns them into three-dimensional photo-sculptures with scissors and glue.
"I loved the idea of seeing these two-dimensional photos brought back into three dimensions.
"The first site we launched in 1995 was in 3-D, because I said people wouldn't want just two-dimensional photos.
The new system, PhotoCity, grew from the original work of a Cornell computer scientist, Noah Snavely, who while working on his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Washington, developed a set of algorithms that generated three-dimensional models from unstructured collections of two-dimensional photos.
