CHAPTER 1: THE BARRIER METHODS
An autostereoscopic display presents a three-dimensional image to a viewer without the need for special glasses or other impediments (hence "auto" stereo). The first autostereoscopic method to appear was the "barrier" technique, which involved dividing two or more pictures into "stripes" and aligning them behind a series of vertically aligned "opaque bars" of the same frequency. It was first proposed and demonstrated by the French painter G. A. Bois-Clair in 1692. As a viewer walked by his paintings, they would appear to change from one picture to another.
The barrier technique was later proposed using photographic methods independently by both Jacobson and Berthier around 1896. It was first applied by Frederick E. Ives of the U.S. in 1903 and later by Estenave of France in 1906. Coined the "Parallax Stereogram" by Ives, it was essentially a stereo viewing aid placed on the picture instead of at the eyes.