Oculus3D vies to be the greener solution in disposable 3D shades

As of December, RealD cinemas alone served 100 million moviegoers, and even if the vast majority recycle, that's still a ton (probably several thousand tons, in fact) of plastic 3D glasses. According to a company called Ceroplast, those glasses aren't biodegradable; if so many as 10 million pairs end up in a landfill, it would result in C02 emissions equivalent to burning 50,000 gallons of gasoline. Of course, Ceroplast wouldn't be quoting statistics if it didn't have a greener solution. Under the brand of partner Oculus3D (whose co-founder Lenny Lipton is RealD's former CTO), it's presently making biodegradable polarized shades out of polylactic acid that it intends to deploy -- along with the company's proprietary OculR projectors -- as early as summer of this year. As for which theatres you should expect to see them in, well, we're still in the dark on that one.

[Benjulious Posted Mar 17th 2010 4:00AM]

Great...now we can be green dorks instead of just plain dorks.

[WayneS Posted Mar 17th 2010 10:16AM]

@Benjulious The theaters around here require you to buy a new pair every time you go to a 3D movie. Even if you bring a pair that you previously purchased, they still charge and extra $3 "technology fee". And they have the recycling bins at each theater. Why not just buy one pair and reuse them for each movie?

[MegaJapan Posted Mar 17th 2010 4:12AM]

Hurray for green stuff that doesn't look green at all!
...
Though I'd prefer a set of permanent fancy universal 3D glasses like in the story a couple of articles below, and take them to the theaters every time I need 'em.

[zero1221 Posted Mar 17th 2010 4:19AM]

I thought movie theaters reused their glasses?
Wouldn't making them biodegradable make it so their not reusable,
at least over time?
Unless they sell them at a cheaper price or they last just as long under normal condition, I doubt any theater would want to invest in something that doesn't last.

[totalfixation Posted Mar 17th 2010 5:27AM]

i figured when you are finish with the glasses. They would dispose of them and have the manufacture reused the dispose material to create new ones. it's idiot for movie theaters to do this. they need to sell them and allow a discount for those who provide their own glasses. So so much of these glasses don't end up in the trash bin. On top of that the wasted time and resource to recycle them.

[ilh Posted Mar 17th 2010 8:50AM]

@totalfixation
Cineworld here in the UK sell them.

Went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D last week but couldn't find my glasses that I kept from UP so I had to buy another pair. Guess what the first thing I saw was when I walked into my bedroom when I got home...my chuffing glasses that I couldn't find so now I have 2 pairs -_-

Keeping the second pair in my car so I don't "lose" them again for next time.

[frauhottelmann Posted Mar 17th 2010 6:00AM]

Well you know, you could just recycle the glasses instead of dumping them into landfills, thus eliminating the need for them to be biodegradable...

[Nick Starchild Posted Mar 17th 2010 11:06PM]

@frauhottelmann or you could be even greener and not bother with watching movies and look outside. Whatever floats your boat.

[darex Posted Mar 17th 2010 6:07AM]

Popspecs! "Kind to Trees"

[darex Posted Mar 17th 2010 6:08AM]

Popspecs - "Kind to Trees"

[coolicer Posted Mar 17th 2010 6:24AM]

I don't know... the dutch cinema I go to gathers all those RealD and IMAX3D glasses and then they clean them... I mean atleast the RealD glasses are pretty solid plastic, they don't feel like a throw-away piece, so why not just re-use?

[bigshape Posted Mar 17th 2010 7:30AM]

the whole 3D fad is particularly annoying for the 30% (ish) of near sighted people who now need to wear 2 pairs of glasses to watch a 3d fim...

glasses on top of glasses = double uncool + pretty damn uncomfortable.

[rudiger Posted Mar 17th 2010 11:32AM]

@bigshape Get laser eye surgery or contact lenses, four-eyes.

[dangerdoc Posted Mar 17th 2010 8:47AM]

If they are in a land fill and do not biodegrade, their carbon will never be released into the atmosphere,

If you make them out of biodegradable plastic, then eventually, the carbon will be released into the atmosphere

Engadget, pick your disaster, overflowing land fills or global warming.

[cashclientel Posted Mar 17th 2010 8:53AM]

Wow much more CO2 do they take to produce? Where's the well-to-eyes analysis on this?

[Jamescb Posted Mar 17th 2010 9:31AM]

Why not have movie goers KEEP their glasses so they can use them at the next movie, instead of having them re-buy (rent?) one every time? I ticket girl told me they wear out over time (laughable). She also said they can't give you a break on the ticket price b/c the glasses are included in the ticket.

Why not give a discount if you have your own glasses?

[rudiger Posted Mar 17th 2010 11:31AM]

Shades made out of acid?!?!

The goggles! Zey do nothing!

[Eternal Density Posted Mar 17th 2010 5:53PM]

@rudiger
I came here to post that very thing. Great minds...

[knewman Posted Mar 17th 2010 7:30PM]

I remember back in '99 when my local 3D theater first opened they had reusable glasses that they collected back from you as you left. They *almost* looked kinda neat too, not like these disposable ones that look like balls.

[jamesFF Posted Mar 18th 2010 12:02AM]

I wonder if they can make them out of cardboard. Nah that's impossible.

[Astounding Posted Mar 20th 2010 2:32PM]

What theater throws away the 3D glasses? I've NEVER seen that. Every 3D movie I've ever been to washes and reuses the glasses after each showing...