Fashion mavens beware. Those incredibly rad 3D glasses may be a fad of the past, with technology to project 3D images without the glasses becoming cheaper and widely available. The physics behind the technology is not new: use lenses cut at specific angles to project a different image to each eye, with the combination of the two images designed to give a 3D look, much as the two images filtered by 3D glasses create an image.
Thus far, users have been forced to view from a pre-defined range: wherever it is the lenses are designed to project. One method around this limitation is to use an array of lenses to project 3D images to a sufficient number of spots as to appear seamless. Samsung has created a screen (exhibited at CeBit, the world’s largest computer expo) that can split the 3D image 64 ways. Fraunhaofer, a German company, demonstrated a different approach: that of using cameras to track users’ eyes and adjust the angle of the lenses to the viewer. This approach takes advantage of a natural synergy: that of tracking users’ movements for control, or even interaction as part of a video game.
A perhaps more familiar application is through Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect-presented at the E3 Expo this year in Los Angeles. The much anticipated video-human interaction from Microsoft and others really only makes sense with quality 3D visual displays-if we move in 3 dimensions, a display in just 2 will seem lacking, regardless of the games’ other virtues.
While tracking users’ movements to readjust the angle of the lenses is not exactly novel, this technology has really been enabled by advances in computing power. The lenses are controlled by LEDs which must use incoming data from the viewers’ eyes to recalculate the projected image at the refresh rate of 240 Hz. Microsoft’s technology currently can project to two different locations (viewers). As each 3D view requires a separate image for the left and right eye, the 240 Hz drops to a 60 Hz image when split between the two viewers. As images below 60 Hz will appear jerky, higher frequency LED controls are required to split the image to more viewers.
Another innovation is the wedge-shaped design of the lens, which allows the light to be concentrated within the lens and a focal point on the surface. This has greatly reduced the size and weight of the 3D tracking technology. The geometry of the lens currently limits Microsoft’s range to 20 degrees, with hopes of soon increasing to 40.
While the physics and engineering required are not trivial, one can hope that it is only a matter of time to have 180 degree range with a limitless number of viewers. These advances will perhaps pave the way to a revolution in the way we view digital technology, even more so than the adoption of colour television in the 1960s and combining audio and visual in the 1930s.
Viewing technology is closing in on what can be regarded as the communication holy grail-equality with real perception. As the final frontier of visual perception, 3D technology may finally enable acceptance for virtual reality and its incumbent social changes, not just allow us to relegate our red and blue glasses to the antique museum.
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