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Acer unveils a pair of portable, glasses-free 3D monitors
Acer has introduced two glasses-free 3D monitors you can take on the road, including for gaming.
Acer's glasses-free 3D SpatialLabs laptop arrives this winter
The machine will allow you to view 3D images on its glasses-free stereoscopic display.
Acer's SpatialLabs offers glasses-free 3D for professionals
It's designed to enable 3D model makers to check their designs before sending them to be rendered.
NVIDIA will stop supporting 3D glasses in April (updated)
Have you noticed that stereoscopic 3D is out of vogue, at least at home? So has NVIDIA. The graphics chip designer has unveiled plans to drop support for 3D Vision, its approach to gaming with 3D glasses. The last drivers to support 3D Vision will come with the final Release 418 in April, with future versions dropping it entirely. You'll still get support for "critical driver issues" in 418 through April 2020, but you'll otherwise need to move on.
Valve tests Steam Controller customizations and 3D VR screenshots
When Valve announced that it had sold over half a million Steam Controllers, it also noted a new feature on the way called Activators. With Activators, gamers can customize each press of an input on the gamepad, with tweaks for haptic settings, or distinguish between a normal press, a long press or a double tap -- all on a single input. Now the feature is live for users in the Steam beta, to try out and see if there's another level of precision for controller customization.
Final Fantasy Explorers ditches 3D, uses new 3DS' C-stick
Final Fantasy Explorers will not use the 3DS' stereoscopic 3D functions, Siliconera reported. The game will make use of the new 3DS and 3DS XL's buttons and C-stick, however, controlling the third-person game's targeting and lock-on mechanics. It will also be compatible with the Circle Pad Pro, unlike a certain popular Nintendo-published fighting game that launched recently. Square Enix isn't the first publisher to dismiss the handheld system's 3D capabilities to some degree; Nintendo's own Pokemon X and Y limited their use of the stereoscopic 3D visuals to the game's battles. The console manufacturer even launched an entire version of the system without the 3D functions roughly one year ago, the Nintendo 2DS. Final Fantasy Explorers will launch on December 18 in Japan. While both US and European trademarks exist for the game, it hasn't yet been given a release date elsewhere. [Image: Square Enix]
Play 3DS games on Oculus Rift (some assembly required)
Got a little too much money and an abundance of gaming gadgetry on your hands? Here's a weekend project that may be right up your alley. As demonstrated by KatsuKity, the makers of a 3DS capture card, you can rig up a way to play your favorite games on an Oculus Rift complete with those rad stereoscopic 3D effects (assuming the game in question actually has them). It's actually pretty simple once everything's hooked up -- KatsuKity's viewer software has been updated with support for the DK2, so once your tiny console is sending 3D video to your PC, you shouldn't have much trouble running that into your Rift. As for how you get that capture card up and running in the first place... well, that's another story entirely. You can either buy a a capture board and shoehorn it into your 3DS yourself, or take the easy way out and purchase a pre-modded unit. It's a pretty proposition either way, but it may just be a small price to pay to catch a few glimpses of Super Smash Brothers in three dimensions.
Create and share your own 3D video with Poppy
Nostalgia reigns, as the "iPhone as 3D camera" Poppy pops up on Kickstarter. The Poppy, first reported on Engadget, turns your iPhone 5 into a camera that can capture, view and share photos and video in 3D. The box alone triggers memories of Woody Woodpecker, Mickey Mouse and a variety of cartoons on round cardboard mounts that held seven stereoscopic 3-D pairs of tiny color photographs on film, because it looks very much like your old View-Master toy. The Poppy modernizes the concept by adding a slot for your iPhone 5 to capture two stereographic images using mirrors. The Poppy's lenses unite two video streams into one 3D video experience. You can create your own masterpieces or view 3D content created by someone else, including YouTube videos. According to Engadget's Myriam Joire, who actually tested a prototype, "The front part of the casing rotates 180 degrees to line up the optics with the iPhone's camera, enabling capture mode. Poppy exposes the phone's volume buttons and includes thumb cutouts to access the screen while you're holding it. The device comes with a matching app that makes it easier to view and capture content using the handset's volume buttons." While it's not a pocket device, the "Poppy is the first product that lets the iPhone capture, view and share the world as it is actually experienced -- in 3D," according to co-creator, Ethan Lowry. For less than US$60, you can join the Kickstarter campaign and receive a Poppy of your very own. After the first day of pledges, Poppy has already raised almost 40 percent of its $40,000 goal. While interest in stereographic photography has waned over the years, there are still some very active stereo photography enthusiasts. The National Stereoscopic Association lists 60 organizations world-wide that meet regularly. Contrary to popular opinion, these folks don't just deal with old products. The members are a treasure trove of information on shooting 3D with current products also. The folks from the Stereo New England group alerted me to the Hasbro My3D when it first came out and gave me many tips for shooting in 3D and for cleaning my Dad's 3D slides. Perhaps I can persuade the Poppy developers to add a stereo slide viewing attachment to their new product...
Sony patents 'Eyepad,' a Move-enabled PS3 tablet controller
It's important to remember, especially in situations like this, that the existence of a patent does not necessarily correlate to the existence of a product, or even a company's desire to build what it has patented. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at Sony's ridiculously named PlayStation 3 tablet controller patent.The device Sony refers to as an "EyePad" in its patent application, seen in the sketch above, would theoretically come equipped with the usual trappings you'd expect from a PS3 controller: D-Pad, buttons, analog stick, SIXAXIS motion sensors, etc. The more interesting bits, however, are a bit harder to pick out from the drawing. First of all, those shaded stripes on the edge are not a creamy nougat center, as we had originally surmised, but rather illuminated strips of LEDs or comparable light source. This would allow the EyePad, in conjunction with an EyeToy camera, to function as a PlayStation Move controller.Secondly, those dots on either corner of the apparent display (which could actually be a normal display, touchscreen or Vita-esque touchpad, according to the filing) are paired stereoscopic cameras. The cameras are arranged in such as way that their respective fields of vision provide a full, 360-degree view of any object placed onto the surface of the EyePad's screen, allowing for objects to be fully scanned in three dimensions and then rendered in game. Theoretically the player could also place their face within this field, allowing for face mapping in character customization applications, for instance.Again, we doubt this patent represents anything more than a combination of day-dreaming and butt-covering on the parts of Sony's engineers and legal department, respectively, but the ideas presented here are definitely interesting.
Panasonic PT-AE8000U projector touts brighter, smoother 3D for king-of-the-hill home theaters
Panasonic wasn't one of the quickest out of the gate with a 3D projector, having only unveiled the PT-AE7000 in the middle of last year, but it's making up for lost time with a follow-up. The PT-AE8000 puts most of the focus on that extra dimension through both a 20 percent brighter 3D picture and motion interpolation for the stereoscopic image. Fine-tuning is equally new through picture balance and monitor tools that help perfect the color and parallax effects before any 3D movie gets started. Traditionalists in love with 2D get their fill, too: a new 220W lamp produces deeper reds, a more visible 2,400 lumens of brightness and (with the help of plates and filters) an even higher 500,000:1 contrast ratio. We've confirmed with Panasonic that the AE8000U should cost the same $3,499 as the AE7000 when it reaches stores between late September and early October, which makes the new projector a tempting prospect if you've been holding off until now.
VIA EPIA-P910 stuffs 3D display support, quad-core into a Pico-ITX size
If there's been a race in the Pico-ITX realm to catch up to full-size PCs, VIA just leapt ahead by a few bounds with the EPIA-P910. The tiny PC mates one of VIA's 1GHz QuadCore E-Series processors with a VX11H media core to handle the kinds of tasks that would break just about any other system its size: stereoscopic 3D displays and DirectX 11 3D graphics are entirely within the realm of possibility. Likewise, there's a surprising amount of expansion headroom compared to many of the P910's similarly small counterparts, such as the 8GB RAM ceiling and support for both HDMI 1.4a and USB 3.0. You'll need to get in touch with VIA if you want to find out how much it costs to work the new EPIA into an embedded PC, and it's more likely to be headed to corporate buyers than to homebrew projects. We're still looking forward to the shot of visual adrenaline, whether it's in a mini PC or a store display.
Microsoft patent applications take Kinect into mobile cameras, movie-making
Microsoft has never been shy about its ambitions for Kinect's depth sensing abilities. A pair of patent applications, however, show that its hopes and dreams are taking a more Hollywood turn. One patent has the depth camera going portable: a "mobile environment sensor" determines its trajectory through a room and generates a depth map as it goes, whether it's using a Kinect-style infrared sensor or stereoscopic cameras. If the visual mapping isn't enough, the would-be camera relies on a motion sensor like an accelerometer to better judge its position as it's jostled around. Microsoft doesn't want to suggest what kind of device (if any) might use the patent for its camera, but it's not ruling out anything from smartphones through to traditional PCs. The second patent filing uses the Kinect already in the house for that directorial debut you've always been putting off. Hand gestures control the movie editing, but the depth camera both generates a model of the environment and creates 3D props out of real objects. Motion capture, naturally, lets the humans in the scene pursue their own short-lived acting careers. We haven't seen any immediate signs that Microsoft is planning to use this or the mobile sensor patent filing in the real world, although both are closer to reality than some of the flights of fancy that pass by the USPTO -- the movie editor has all the hallmarks of a potential Dashboard update or Kinect Fun Labs project.
Oculus virtual reality headset looking for funding on Kickstarter
Most "virtual reality" helmets tend to be disappointing to say the least, but the Oculus Rift has gained a bit of buzz this year. Developer Palmer Luckey is now looking for funding via Kickstarter. "The reason we're using Kickstarter is so that we can get these dev kits into the hands of developers as fast as possible," Luckey says in the pitch video above. "That way they can try it for themselves and start integrating support into their games and engines." The crowd-funding route has worked already, with the project securing more than double its $250,000 goal as of this writing. Limited prototype dev units – at $275 each – have all been claimed, leaving the $300 level as the cheapest route to get your hands on the hardware, which includes a copy of the upcoming, Rift-enabled revamp, Doom 3 BFG. In a related endorsement, id Software's John Carmack called the device "the best VR demo probably the world has ever seen." That price is likely higher than what consumers will eventually pay for everything once the software is optimized and the design is finalized. The dev kits are set to be shipped out in December, so we could see a final product as soon as next year.
Spanish researchers to train FIFA referees on calling plays with stereoscopic 3D, won't help catch dives
Spain might be on Cloud Nine after clinching victory in UEFA's Euro 2012, but a team at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid isn't resting easy. To help referees know when they should blow the whistle, researchers have recorded 500 simulated offside soccer (yes, football) plays in stereoscopic 3D to give refs a more immersive sense of what it's like to make the call on the pitch. The hope is to have FIFA more quickly and accurately stopping play without having to spend too much actual time on the grass. We don't yet know how many referees if any will be trained on the system by the 2014 World Cup, or if it will spread to other leagues -- what we do know is that no amount of extra immersion is needed to catch a theatrically fake injury.
Sanwa stereoscopic YouTube viewer turns your iPhone into a big-screen 3D TV
Japanese iPhone owners are being given the chance to bathe in the nostalgic glow of the old 3D View-Master -- only now, the pictures will actually move. The Sanwa device works in a similar manner to its ancient mechanical counterpart, but magnifies side-by-side yt3D YouTube movies on an iPhone instead of the classic circular slides. On top of negating the need for custom content like similar products we've seen, this should also yield a brighter and larger 3D viewing area than red-green glasses -- letting you get the most out of that retina display.
Huawei throws R&D dollars at gesture control, cloud storage, being more 'disruptive'
Undeterred by the fact that even humans struggle to interpret certain gestures, Huawei says it's allocating a chunk of its growing R&D budget to new motion-sensing technology for smartphones and tablets. The company's North American research chief, John Roese, told Computerworld that he wants to allow "three-dimensional interaction" with devices using stereo front-facing cameras and a powerful GPU to make sense of the dual video feed. Separately, the Chinese telecoms company is also putting development cash into a cloud computing project that promises to "change the economics of storage by an order of magnitude." Roese provided scant few details on this particular ambition, but did mention that Huawei has teamed up with CERN to conduct research and has somehow accumulated over 15 petabytes of experimental physics data in the process. Whatever it's up to, Huawei had better get a move on -- others are snapping up gesture recognition and cloud patents faster than you can say fa te ne una bicicletta with your hands.
LG launches new A540-T/D 3D notebook, adds A540-P IPS model
While LG neatly folded its glasses-free A540-H model into its CES line-up at the start of the year, it's now added another pair of notebooks to launch alongside it in Korea. This includes another 3D model that requires a pair of stylish squash goggles passive 3D glasses to gain that extra dimension. For those less disposed to hanging techno eye-wear off their face and watching Avatar again, there's the simpler two-dimensional joys of the A540-P, which houses a 15.6-inch AH-IPS display. All three versions house the same Core i7 processors and a GeForce GT555M for the necessary graphical grunt work. Fans of both mono and stereoscopic computing can consult the (Google-translated) press release below for more details.
Fisher Price and Spatial View bring View-Master into the 21st century
It might not be quite as satisfying as pulling down that orange arm and watching as the one three-dimensional image is replaced with another slightly washed-out pic with rounded corners, but Fisher Price is ushering its beloved View-Master brand into the 21st century. Later this quarter the company will be launching ViewMasterDigital3D.com, a content shop that will sell packages of stereoscopic images for $1.99. While you will be able to view those photos on any 3D-capable device -- like say that new LG TV you just picked up -- there will also be branded iPhone and laptop accessories from Spatial View who partnered with Fisher Price on this project. Check out the complete PR after the break.
MasterImage 3D glasses-free smartphone and tablet displays hands-on
When MasterImage 3D announced two new displays for smartphones and tablets, you knew a hands-on would be inevitable. Based on the company's patented cell matrix parallax barrier, each display promises to eliminate much of the headaches typically associated with glasses-free 3D. As an added benefit of the cell matrix configuration, more light is allowed to pass through, which should prolong battery life. The smartphone display measures 4.3-inches at 720p resolution, while the tablet sizes up at 10.1-inches with a 1920 x 1200 layout. Generally, our thoughts on MasterImage's 3D technology were two-fold. First, it's absolutely true that the display is less nausea inducing, but when the image was viewed at its most proper angle, the three-dimensional effects were also less awe-inspiring. Nonetheless, the company has lined up partners for both displays and you should see the handiwork featured in consumer technology by the second half of this year.Ben Drawbaugh contributed to this post.
Aigo preps glasses-free 3D tablet because Avatar demands it
Make no mistake about it, 3D is an industry darling (despite its gimmicky implementation). The feature, incorporated in everything from movies to TVs to video game consoles, is now taking a trip over to the wild, wild west of tablet design. Coupling the tech with Google's latest device agnostic OS -- Ice Cream Sandwich -- Chinese manufacturer Aigo is prepping to release its own glasses-free 3D Pad that utilizes a high-res LCD display similar to Nintendo's 3DS, letting users turn the effect on and off. No pricing or concrete launch plans have been announced outside of a planned February 2012 bow. But after next week's CES reveals, the tab's sure to find itself in plentiful company.
