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NAB 2014: First Trifocal 3D Film Will Be Shown in Las Vegas

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March 20, 2014

Walt Disney Studios’ experimental live action 3D film “Make/Believe” will be shown at NAB in Las Vegas next month. Currently in the final stages of post production, the 10-minute 3D short was shot with a new trifocal camera system. “Make/Believe” was produced by German research institute Fraunhofer HHI with Disney and Berlin firm Real Life Films using Fraunhofer’s hybrid camera system and software. The film will be shown in the Fraunhofer booth at NAB. Continue reading NAB 2014: First Trifocal 3D Film Will Be Shown in Las Vegas

Game Companies Announce the Immersive Technology Alliance

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March 18, 2014

At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week, a collection of tech companies and organizations announced the formation of the non-profit Immersive Technology Alliance (formerly S3DGA), which plans to develop games involving augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D and gesture controls. Members include Avegant, Big Blue Bubble, Electronic Arts, Epson, GameFace Labs, Technical Illusions and others. Earlier reports that Oculus VR is involved in the consortium turned out to be inaccurate. Continue reading Game Companies Announce the Immersive Technology Alliance

VR News: Oculus Rift Secures $75 Million in Venture Funding

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December 17, 2013

Virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, which began as a Kickstarter project seeking $250,000 (and eventually generated $2.4 million), is expected to transition from prototype to available product, thanks to $75 million in Series B venture funding led by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. Oculus VR also announced that Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of the individuals behind Mosaic and Netscape, will join the company’s board of directors. Continue reading VR News: Oculus Rift Secures $75 Million in Venture Funding

Design: Groundbot Spherical Surveillance Robot Delivers 3D Video

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October 26, 2011
  • The Groundbot spherical surveillance robot from Sweden “can roll through mud, sand, snow, or heck, float on water if it need be — while using its pair of cameras to deliver its remote operator with a live live video feed — in stereoscopic 3D, no less,” reports Ubergizmo.
  • This is a great simple design for a device that could be used in many hazardous situations such as combating crime and detecting potential terrorism.
  • The Groundbot can travel up to 6 mph and features knobby tire treads for all-terrain operation. The robot includes sensors for “radioactivity, gas, humidity, fire, heat, smoke, biological material, explosives, or narcotics.”
  • “One controls the Groundbot remotely or through a programmed autonomous GPS-based system, where the Groundbot works like your regular DSLR — you can opt to include a wide-angled camera (for 360-degree vision), or if the situation arises, use a night vision (IR) camera instead.”

Hollywood Invited to Test Drive MIT/NASA Stereo 3D Camera Rig

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September 12, 2011
  • Community partnering initiative School Safety Summit, established by Colorado State Senator Steve King, has announced that a new 360-degree 3D motion picture camera rig developed at MIT under two NASA contracts is being tested by Colorado education leaders and community partners.
  • The panoramic rig is also available for Hollywood experimentation. According to the press release: “The Summit’s 3D Task Force invites filmmakers and 3D TV producers worldwide to join the experiment and develop scriptwriting and directing approaches that take full advantage of the 360-degree stereo 3D experience made possible by the new system.”
  • The press release adds: “Participating industry leaders will have a first look to evaluate applications in theatrical and home entertainment, special events, education, and enterprises that would benefit from omnidirectional robotic vision and depth perception as well as an unprecedented level of image and sound processing.”
  • The stereoscopic system synchronizes multiple cameras to create a “high resolution, wide field of view image database from which images can be combined in real time.” Image blending technology collects data wirelessly and generates an “extended panoramic view in which the combined images form a full circle, or movie cyclorama. Images can also be combined so that the cycloramic view extends upwardly or downwardly to create a continuous, unobstructed, omnidirectional image that extends a full 4 pi steradians.”
  • The inventors cite applications ranging from the control of robots on planetary surfaces to the control of firefighting drones to event filming and dramas that place the audience at the center of the story.
  • For those who may be interested, sign up at www.3DTaskForce.org for an orientation kit and schedule.

Has MasterImage 3D Created the Best Glasses-Free 3D Yet?

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August 30, 2011
  • MasterImage 3D is developing a 3D screen for smartphones and tablets that doesn’t require special glasses.
  • The screen uses what the company calls “cell matrix parallax barrier” technology, which it claims is more sophisticated than the autostereoscopic technology currently available.
  • GamesBeat lead writer Dean Takahashi points out that the viewing experience is vastly improved as compared to disappointments such as the Nintendo 3DS: “But the glasses-free experience MasterImage 3D has developed is something altogether different. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s going to offer an outstanding 3D experience on smartphones and tablets.”
  • Roy Taylor, executive vice president and general manager for MasterImage 3D, demonstrated a working prototype for Takahashi, who was very impressed: “The quality blew me away. On a 4.3-inch WVGA screen, Taylor showed a 3D movie running in stereoscopic 3D. I didn’t need to wear glasses to see the sharp 3D imagery. When I moved my head, it didn’t get blurry. And if I moved my head too far to the side, it gracefully transitioned to a two-dimensional image.”

New LG Stereoscopic 3D Laptop has Dual Camera Webcam

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August 24, 2011
  • LG announced its A530 3D notebook with 15.6-inch stereoscopic display and built-in 3D webcam this week.
  • The A530 features native YouTube support and 3D Space Software, a built-in editing suite for 3D content.
  • The notebook’s options include Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors with up to 8GB of RAM and a choice of two graphics cards: an Nvidia GeForce GT 555m with either 1 or 2GB of built-in memory.
  • “The screen also has what the company calls Film Patterned Retarder technology, which it claims produces brighter and flicker-free images compared to screens that use shutter-style glasses,” reports Digital Trends.
  • No price announcement yet, but the device is expected to ship to Europe later this month.

SMPTE Conference: The Need for Science Education in 3D Production

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June 30, 2011
  • SMPTE recently held its 3D Conference for Media and Entertainment in New York City.
  • One significant outcome resulted from scientists who are studying how the brain processes visual images.
  • They suggest that Hollywood needs an improved academic understanding of stereoscopic 3D to avoid making viewers uncomfortable.
  • It was recommended that content creators and vision scientists get together to evaluate different demographics, 2D-to-3D conversion, potential harmful effects, eye fatigue and much more.
  • “The problem is that we’re looking at this from a top down perspective instead from the bottom up. With HDTV, it took us more than 20 years to get the science right. Here [with 3D] we’re starting with the screen and working backwards. That doesn’t seem right,” suggested Joseph Flaherty, senior VP of technology at the CBS Network.

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