WITH APPLE PLANNING to enter the 3D fray, could this be the final push that the technology needs to achieve mainstream status?
Despite 3D technology’s rise in awareness, popularity, and availability, consumers have been slow to adopt 3D in the home due to issues like high device acquisition costs, lack of 3D content, and most notably, the need for special, costly glasses to view 3D content.
But Apple, a company known for entering a nascent market, and driving it into the mainstream, is taking the right steps to remove this obstacle, according to market research firm In-Stat. Apple was granted a patent earlier this month on a 3D projection system that will allow multiple users to experience 3D content at different viewing angles without the need for special glasses. The patent suggests that, by detecting the general location of each user in the viewing area and adjusting accordingly, multiple images can be projected to different points on a special reflective screen, allowing multiple users to simultaneously view the 3D image from different points in the room without the need for glasses.
"Autostereoscopic 3D, or glasses-free 3D, is currently available. However, its development has been aimed mainly at mobile applications, like smart phones and handheld game consoles," said senior analyst, Stephanie Ethier, in the press release. "For example, Sharp is launching a glasses-free 3D smart phone in the US in 2011. Nintendo is set to launch its 3DS handheld game console in Japan, Europe and the US in the first half 2011. However, a notable difference between these 3D-enabled mobile devices and Apple’s 3D projection system is that these mobile devices are optimized for a single viewer experience. Apple’s 3D projection system would be optimized for a multiple viewer environment – one that is much more suited to driving 3D adoption in the home."
For more in-depth coverage on the market for 3D in mobile devices, see In-Stat’s recently published report 3D in Mobile Devices: 3D Adoption Will Be Highest in Smartphone, Handheld Gaming, and Tablet PC Markets.
