One of the most interesting technologies I found on the show floor is an old one, but it is finally being used efficiently: It's 3D!
Here's what makes it new tech: An autostereostopic display that allows multiple viewers to see content without 3D glasses, and it won’t cross your vision. It's a whole system that includes the display, a mounting rig, a media-streaming computer that processes the information, and special 3D content tools. These tools are the key: They pick out which part of the image will come in first in the 3D spectrum visual, then the next, and so on, so that when it comes together, the 3D visual is seamless and seems to literally pop out from the screen.
Some of the content enabling products that come with it are plug-ins for popular animation software, WOWvx OpenGL Control, and a WOWvx
Compositor.
On the floor, they have a 42-inch WOWvx display, in a 3x3 set-up, and some stuff worked great, even with the ‘look around’ effect that I thought would turn blurry. It did not, and the gaming and Sci-Fi scenes were impressive. (Though the 2D pics here don't do it justice.)
The CES show is all about finding interesting technologies that push your mind beyond the actual gadget standing before you, and this one did it for us. So it’s not just Robert Zemeckis who’s seeing something in 3D content and display technology. Maybe he’s not crazy after all.
According to our interview with the communications manager from the 3D
Division at Philips, they will be selling these babies business-to-business immediately, followed by a ramp up into the consumer market within a few years, so look out for them.
