stereo settings and 360 panorama

[barcud]

Hello,

I am using Mandelbulb 3D mainly to create 360 panoramas ( like the ones here at https://plus.google.com/photos/+BerndKronmueller/albums/6029521862341828721 ).
Now with Google cardboard or Oculus rift you can actually use those 360 panoramas in a virtual reality way and 'look around' in them.
At the moment most of the viewers just duplicate the image from one eye to the other so there is no 3D effect - you can just look around.

Since I am generating the 360 panoramas with Mandelbulb3D I thought I could generate 'proper' 3D ones using the stereo option - one for the left and one for the right eye.
So I have created right/left eye panoramas and synced them up with krpano (a 360 panorama viewer) to create a side-by-side synchronised interactive 360 panorama.

I have played around with the stereo settings but things do not really line up - especially if you look up or down.
Even looking around on the horizon there seems to be a 3D effect in some directions but not in others.

Am I right in assuming that the stereo option does not really work with the 360 panorama format?

I guess the stereo is achieved by creating images from two different 'camera' positions.
Choosing the 360 pano option in addition to that would not create proper 3D 360 panoramas  (I think).

I think to do that the right and left eye 'camera' would need to moved around in a small circle and the image part where you are looking at would need to be created accordingly.
The steps the camera positions is taking would need to be quite small to create an image without visible 'edges'.

That is just how I thought it might need to work - I haven't tried this method 'manually' because there is a lot f camera movement and rotation involved and I would not know how to control that properly.

Anyway - can anybody confirm if stereo options should work in the case of 360 panorama projection or not?   

Cheers,

      Barcud

[NickVenden]

Barcud,
I'm a grad student in Interactive Media at CSULong Beach California. At work with the Oculus Rift building 3d environments. My goal is not Virtual Reality (who would want any more of that?) but Simulacra as in the essays of Jean Baudrillard i.e., immersive experiences and object without models based on observation of the real world. Sounds like B.S. to me too.  I'm using Unity 3D v4.5.5 as my development platform.  i've made several 360 panoramic skyboxes from equirectangular Mandelbulber renderings and they look fantastic. Wondering if you have an interest in collaboration?  
You can reach me at [EDIT: SPAM PROTECTION: USE PM FOR CONTACTING; CLICK ON MAIL ICON TO SEND USER AN EMAIL]