💾 Archived View for gmi.noulin.net › mobileNews › 676.gmi captured on 2023-09-08 at 19:01:00. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2023-01-29)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
2008-09-18 12:28:43
3D glasses are like video phones. They re-surface every few years, when "new
technology" makes them cheaper than the last generation, and then they vanish
silently because people hate using them.
In both cases the problem isn't technology. Video phones were feasible since
the 50s or 60s. In the case of 3D glasses, the refresh rate was never the
problem. After all, >80Hz displays were available for a long time now and 40FPS
isn't exactly shoddy.
The problem is that stereoscopic vision is a surprisingly minor part of "seeing
in 3D". It is limited in range to about as far as you can jump. In fact ~5% of
people don't have stereoscopic vision and they function fine, including
driving. Many of them don't even know they lack it. I used to work somewhere
hiring operators for stereoplotters (devices displaying stereoscopic aerial
photos for analysis). Good ones were hard to find.
Most of your "3D vision" actually comes from your brain analyzing a stream of
2D images. This is why you get a better 3D feel for movies than for static
pictures. In real life, this effect is combined with the brain tracking how
your head moves. It is this combination that gives most of the "true" 3D vision
effect - *not* stereoscopy.
This trick is used, for example, by snakes - a spitting cobra will sway its
head side to side to get a 3D image of the world, so it can spit poison in your
eye from 3-5m away. Stereoscopic vision would be useless for it since the
snake's eyes are so close together.
A 3D display system based on this idea is simpler to implement and easier to
user than using 3D glasses. See the impressive demo in http://es.youtube.com/
watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw [youtube.com] for an example.
Notice how objects can appear to be *behind* you and how ducking and moving
become a natural part of the experience. This could transform FPS...
Sure, this only works for a single user at a time, but that's hardly an issue
for gamers. The demo above uses the Wii motion sensor but it is also possible
to use a simple webcam to track your head, as well as many other methods.
Webcams are widely accessible, reasonably priced, and work with PCs and game
consoles such as the Xbox 360. The user may need to wear a headband with two
LEDs on it, but again that's not an issue for gamers. Besides it provides a
marketing opportunity (like console panels). Smarter software could detect
"heads" automatically without any additional hardware.
All you need is the right update to the Xbox software, or wrapper for DirectX
on the PC, and we could have widely spread "true" 3D experience *right now*. No
new hardware, full resolution and refresh rate, and better user experience for
first-person games.
Like the guy in the video above said, "I want to see some games!"