Kenneth Dunkley received a patent for his innovation — the Three-Dimensional Viewing Glasses (3-DVG) – in 1986. The New York City native discovered that by blocking two points of a person’s peripheral vision, Dunkley could create a unique visual effect from a normal two-dimensional visual, such as a photograph. When wearing Dunkley’s 3-DVG glasses, which block those two points in peripheral vision, people can see regular 2-D photos as 3-D objects. His glasses are widely used today at movie theaters that show movies in 3-D.

His career as a pioneer in holography (optical illusions) almost didn’t happen. Dunkley was disillusioned by his poor grades in his first year at community college. However, he developed a study habit that he said helped him earn straight A’s, which enabled him to transfer to a four-year university. Eventually, he earned a Master’s degree in physics. Years later, while giving a lecture at Franklin Institute, Dunkley was giving a demonstration on holography and accidentally discovered a means of using tubes with pinholes in them to give an illusion of depth to a regular photograph. This led to his 3-DVG innovation.

Dunkley also conducted visual effects workshops for several years at the Museum of Scientific Discovery in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He also has experience with electro-optics, lasers, spectroscopy, nanotechnology education, and data communications. Dunkley is the president of Holospace Laboratories, located in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.