Editing Forced perspective (section)

====Full size dioramas====
[[Image:DSC01677 Diorama isole Lofoten - Museo di storia naturale, Milano - Foto di G. Dall'Orto - 20-12-2006.jpg|thumbnail|A diorama in the Museum of Natural History in [[Milan]] ([[Italy]])]]

Modern museum [[dioramas]] may be seen in most major natural history museums. Typically, these displays use a tilted plane to represent what would otherwise be a level surface, incorporate a painted background of distant objects, and often employ false perspective, carefully modifying the scale of objects placed on the plane to reinforce the [[illusion]] through [[depth perception]] in which objects of identical real-world size placed farther from the observer appear smaller than those closer. Often the distant painted background or sky will be painted upon a continuous curved surface so that the viewer is not distracted by corners, seams, or edges. All of these techniques are means of presenting a realistic view of a large scene in a compact space. A photograph or single-eye view of such a diorama can be especially convincing since in this case there is no distraction by the [[binocular disparity|binocular perception]] of depth.

[[Carl Akeley]], a naturalist, sculptor, and taxidermist, is credited with creating the first ever habitat diorama in the year 1889. Akeley's diorama featured taxidermied beavers in a three-dimensional habitat with a realistic, painted background. With the support of curator [[Frank M. Chapman]], Akeley designed the popular habitat dioramas featured at the [[American Museum of Natural History]]. Combining art with science, these exhibitions were intended to educate the public about the growing need for [[habitat conservation]]. The modern [[AMNH Exhibitions Lab]] is charged with the creation of all dioramas and otherwise immersive environments in the museum.<ref>Stephen Christopher Quinn, Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History, Abrams, New York, 2006.</ref>