Catching real world phenomena and recording them for a later reproduction through a media is normally closely linked to some kind of information loss. You can never reproduce the very moment or the truly meaning of an incident as it really happened originally. This is true for scientific laboratory test, for interviews or sound- and movie-recordings, for example. But the primary goal is normally to come as close as possible. And sometimes it works out very well.

Some weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to Osaka. Actually I went there to attend a medical conference, but decided to stay the weekend as well and to explore the city. One of my highlights was the visit of the Kaiyukan-Aquarium. With a capacity of about 11,000 tons of water it is one of the largest aquariums in the world. And among the huge number of aquatic animals there are the stars of this exhibition: two whale sharks. And it is really impressive watching this animals sliding slowly through the water separated from you only by some glass. My entrance ticket came as an interesting set which allowed me to see the 3d movie Under the Sea 3D at a movie theater just next to the Kaiyukan. And I have to admit that the impressions I had while watching this movie were very similar to those in the aquarium: not only seeing those mighty animals but feeling there presence as well. The concept of three-dimensional photography exists already for a long time. But it is only now that it starts to move mainstream. And while there are voices asking if it is really necessary to watch pictures and movies in 3D, I think this development leads us closer to catch the real nature of things.

Frederik