It's been a while.

It's been a while since I've checked on this blog. Sorry that many of the links in the blog posts are now down. The links go to companies I worked for in the past that no longer exist.

I now work for GSE Audio Visual Inc., a nationwide audio visual rental company.

The Future of Autostereoscopic/Auto-Multiscopic Technology.

Autostereoscopic 3D is the technology that lets you see 3D content on a TV without having to wear any glasses. The technology that does this is achieved by placing a lenticular overlay over an LCD/LED HDTV.

Here's some pictures of the Windows login screen on a 42" Toshiba LCD with a  lenticular screen over it.

 

To achieve the best resolution on lenticular autostereoscopic displays, the monitors are 1080p. The lenticular overlay cuts the resolution in half since it sends a different picture to each of your two eyes, so the 3D image you are viewing is 960x540.

So now what now... 4K!

4K monitors have just hit the U.S. market *(Dec. 2012). LG 84LM9600 and Sony XBR-84X900 both have 84" 4K monitors, and 2013 will undoubtedly see more 4K monitors hit the market. 

4K monitors have a resolution of 3840x2160, so if a lenticular screen was used as an overlay for auto-stereoscopic content, you would be viewing the 3D images at 1080p. At this resolution the 3D would look incredible. No doubt, 4K is the future of autosteroscopic monitor technology.

(Sponsors)
GSEAV rents 4K Ultra-HD monitors.
B4DM creates autostereoscopic content

* The terms autostereoscopic and automultiscopic are interchangeable.

Close-Up of a Lenticular, Autostereoscopic Screen

Close-Up pics of a lenticular, autostereoscopic overlay.

This Blog's Author: Ben is owner of B4DM Inc. and is the current Production Manager for GSE AudioVisual.

B4DM Inc.

B4DM Inc. is a new company that creates autostereoscopic content in-house using 3ds Max and z.l.i.c.e.3d.

http://www.b4dm.com

http://www.facebook.com/BeforeDigitalMedia

Glasses-Free 3D TV at MIT

Glasses-free 3D Technology from M.I.T.

Researchers at the Massachusettes Institue of Technology are working on a novel way to show glasses-free 3D. This technology does not use lenticular or parallax overlays.

Read More Here: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/glasses-free-3D-television-0712.html

Nintendo 3DS XL

Nintendo's new auto-stereoscopic handheld gaming system, the 3DS XL, is scheduled for release on August 19th, 2012.


Check out Engadget's review here.

Worldwide search interest for key autostereoscopic-related search inquiries.

The worldwide search interest for the keyword "autostereoscopic", which averages 40,500 global monthly searches:






The worldwide search interest for the keyword "autostereoscopic 3d":

Exceptional3D News

11-09-2011 Exceptional 3D and X2O Media have integrated their solutions to offer a fully custom auto-stereoscopic 3D digital signage CMS.


Read the Press Release Here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/exceptional3d/javitsnyc/prweb8949458.htm

11-15-2011 Exceptional 3D Expands Product Line and Customer Experience for a 'Picture Perfect' 2012

Read More: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/11/15/prweb8964910.DTL#ixzz1f887CcQg

Toshiba Demos the 55" ZL2, Glasses-Free (autostereoscopic/automultiscopic) monitor.

Toshiba demoed the new ZL2 at the IFA trade fair in Berlin. The monitor is 3840x2160 and achieves the glasses-free (autostereoscopic) effect with "a range of lenticular lenselets" (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2011/09/04/toshiba_unveils_glasses-free_3d_tv)

LG Announces Glasses-Free 3D with Eye-Tracking Monitor

LG announces a glasses-free 20" monitor based upon a Parallax Barrier and a single-user eye tracking mechanism.

Read the article here.

Automultiscopic 3D, Auto-Multiscopic 3D and Auto-(N-View)-scopic 3D

For a while now, the term used to refer to "no-glasses" 3D has been the word autostereoscopic or auto-stereoscopic. Since stereo refers to only 2-views, the words automultiscopic and auto-n-view-scopic seem more appropriate now since we are usually dealing with 5 to 9 views, and the term is catching on in the industry.


Here's some webpages which use the new term "automultiscopic":


http://people.csail.mit.edu/wojciech/DispAntiAlias/index.html


http://graphics.ucsd.edu/~matthias/SupplementalMaterial/AntialiasingFor3DDisplays/

Converting Stereo 3D to MultiView (N-view) 3D

In the world of autostereoscopic video production, you will often be presented with a client that has 3D footage already shot (in the can) and they want it converted to MultiView (N-View) 3D, for example, 8-view 3D, so that they can display it on an autostereoscopic monitor.


This is not a simple or cheap task, but there are options available to make it happen.


A popular camera often used for stereo-3D rigs is the RED ONE Camera.


3D Film Factory sells rigs for the Red ONE; you can see the 3D-BS (Beamsplitter) here.
They also have a side-by-side rig, the 3D-SS, viewable here.


The end result is that you get a RED Cinema Camera File (*.r3d) which contains a stereo pair of videos, e.g., you get 2 pictures for each frame of video. Each picture is at a slight horizontal offset, so that you get disparity which lets you extrapolate a 3D image.


Now what?


Now you let the professionals do their magic with your 2-pics-per-frame-stereo-3D, and you get back an 8-pics-per-frame video, ready for your autostereoscopic display.


I know of two ways to get the conversion done. The first is a company located in Florida named 3D Eye Solutions. I haven't viewed any of their work personally, but I have a friend who has and he says they do good work.


The second option, if you're familiar with 3D International's z.l.i.c.e.3d software, is to buy their new plug-in, Stereo Tools, and let it do the magic for you. I haven't seen their work either, but I am a user of z.l.i.c.e.3d and I can affirm to it's wonderfullness.


Hope this helps.

Nokia Patents Autostereoscopic Eye-Tracking Method

Check it out here:

http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?WO=2011044936&IA=EP2009063420&DISPLAY=STATUS

Better Autostereoscopic 3D

Researchers at the MIT Media Lab have proposed a better autostereoscopic apporoach, called HR3D.

Read the original article here:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/glasses-free-3d-0504.html

Exceptional 3D (A new Autostereoscopic 3D Hardware, Software, Training and Content Production Company Launches March 2011

Exceptional 3D - A new autostereoscopic 3D player in town, based out of New York, and formed by former employees of Magnetic3D has launched in April 2011.


The Exceptional 3D philosophy is keeping 3D simple and more affordable. They use software that's compatible with 3ds Max and Maya, and promise to deliver the highest quality of auto-stereoscopic 3D displays, software and 3D content for widespread adaptation at cost effective prices.


Like other auto-stereoscopic companies, Exceptional3D has chosen to use an auto-stereoscopic 3D compositing software provided by 3D International Group, who just recently (as of early 2011) acquired Visumotion, and is the software developer responsible for producing the no-glasses 3D compositing tool.


From Exceptional 3D:


"This past year, we've seen 3D movies & 3D TV’s with glasses make a big impact on our technological culture and society.The release of Nintendo 3DS has shown us what is desired. The marketplace has an appetite for 3D without glasses and the digital signage industry is poised to handle breaking the technology out in a big way.
In the past, 3D auto-stereoscopic displays and 3D content were cost prohibitive for mass adoption by resellers, integrators and end users. We've listened to you developed a business model for the digital signage industry that aims to allow any customer to purchase the highest quality auto-stereoscopic 3D displays, software and content for a widespread adaptation. With an extremely cost effective model, there is nothing stopping the movement of no-glasses 3D from directly competing with traditional 2D solutions."

POP IMS, from France, creates an Interesting Abstract on new Lenticular A3D Technology

In a comment below in this blog under the Blog entry on A3D Companies, Frank GUIGAN writes:


"Hello,
We are a European R&D team working on 3D technologies.
We think we have found the best autostereoscopic technology, especially for tablets and phones.
You will find at
http://www.popimslab.com/public/Popims_3D_Video.pdf 
a complete information on this subject.
We hope you will find it of interest.
Cheers,
Franck GUIGAN / Popims / www.popims.com "


If you are interested in lenticular display technology, it is a good read. Please discuss.

An Explanation of How Lenticular, Autostereoscopic Video Works (Using Pictures)

Autostereoscopic 3D (A3D)means seeing 3D on a TV without the need to wear 3D glasses. There are several ways to achieve this, and one way (the focus of this post) is by using a lenticular lens. We will also use a video format that is referred to as 9-view in the A3D industry.

Hardware
You can put a lenticular lens over any size monitor, but you definitely want to get a high-quality LCD with at least 1080p resolution.

A company I produce A3D content for, APCO AudioVisual, rents 22", 32", 42", 46" and 57" A3D monitors.

For example, you start with an HD (1080p) LCD monitor, say we have a 42" one. Next thing you do is get a 42" lenticular lens from a company like this or this. You mount the lenticular lens over the LCD monitor and you're ready to focus on the software aspect.

Software
The first thing you need to do is get 3d footage from either 3d modelling software (like Maya or 3ds Max) or from a 3d camera.

Although it's not perfect, nor is it easy, you can convert 3d camera (2-view) footage to n-view footage.

So within your 3d modelling software, you use a plug-in, which is 9 cameras, side-by-side, all pointing to a single object.

For example, I used a 3D model of a DNA strand and placed it in front of a 2D video of water splashing, which I mapped onto a plane behind the DNA.

With that said, consider this: A3D monitors appear as if things can float about 15" in front of them and 15" back "within" them.

I put the 2D video of the water on a plane that should appear about 15" back "within" the monitor. I put the 3D model of DNA so that it would appear to be about 15" in front of the monitor.

Here are the 9 images of the same frame exported from the 9-view plugin from within 3ds max. (I compressed each image from TGA to JPG to make them more web-friendly).

Camera One

 Camera Two

 Camera Three

 Camera Four

 Camera Five

 Camera Six

 Camera Seven

 Camera Eight

 Camera Nine

For each frame of video, the Display Configurator reads in each of the 9 views, then outputs a single image. For the above images, the Display Configurator gives us this image:

It's kind of hard to see what's going on, so here's the same image as above, except the background is removed:

When the above image is shown on the LCD monitor, as it passes through the lenticular lens, it would appear to an observer as if it was floating in front of the monitor.

Autostereoscopic Technology Companies

Here's a List of Autostereoscopic Companies
In no particular order:

Visumotion/3D International

http://visumotion.com

Inition
http://www.inition.co.uk/

Alioscopy / TCL

http://www.alioscopy.com

Tridelity

http://www.tridelity.com/

3D Eye Solutions
http://www.3deyesolutions.com/

iPONT
http://www.ipont3d.com

Masterimage 3D
http://masterimage3d.com

Magnetic3D
http://www.magnetic3d.com

Dimenco
http://www.dimenco.eu/dimenco-shows-conversion-services-2d-3d-stereo-and-auto-stereo-during-ces/


Toshiba 
http://3dradar.techradar.com/3d-tech/tosh-show-autostereoscopic-screens-ces-2011-21-12-2010

Spatial View
http://www.spatialview.com

B3N Media 

http://www.b3nmedia.com

LG
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/37650/lg-glassesless-3d-mobile-screen

Aerial 3D Display Project
http://www.burton-jp.com/en/index.htm

Exceptional3D
http://www.exceptional3d.com/#en

3D Impact Media
http://www.3dimpactmedia.com/

From one of the comments below comes this interesting link, being hosted on the www.popims.com website:

http://www.popimslab.com/public/Popims_3D_Video.pdfhttp://www.popimslab.com/public/Popims_3D_Video.pdf

Visumotion Changes Name to 3D International Group

3D International Europe Sd. Bhd.,
a unit of Malaysian state-owned Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. View on map.
has aquired Visumotion GmbH,
a Jena-based manufacturer of [autostereoscopic] 3D equipment, with offices in Jena and Orlando.*1
Jan Hübner will continue his role as Head of Content Creation and Training with Ambros Nari as Chief Technology Officer.

Visumotion made software that was capable of plugging into most current 3D modelling programs including 3ds Max and Maya and using that scene including models in its own proprietary software which would let you edit the objects in autostereoscopic 3d. Its software would also enable playback of autostereoscopic 3D video on autostereoscopic monitors.

Markus Klippstein is CEO at 3D International Europe and Manuela Fischer is CEO and President at 3D International of America




Article by
Ben Hale
Orlando, FL
12-10-2010


**************************************************************************************************************

*1 Quoted From: http://www.alacrastore.com/deal-snapshot/3D_International_Sdn_Bhd_acquires_VisuMotion_GmbH-607226
*2 http://depthbeyond.com/news/2010/09/visumotion-gmbh-becomes-3d-international-europe-gmbh/

Microsoft Kinect - A Look at the Implications of this Amazing Device.

I've been following the recent developments in the news about the new Microsoft Xbox Kinect, and this camera strikes me as an absolutely amazing piece of hardware. The Kinect Wikipedia article is a good place to read up on what it is.

The fun part is that the Kinect has been hacked, and with its hardware free to breathe, the implications of what can be done with the Kinect are wonderful, since it is such a powerful 3D camera for relatively very little cost (retails now for $150.00).

The first hack was shown in this YouTube video: Adafruit First to Hack Kinect

This UC Davis researcher shows his hack here.

A Windows-based Kinect hack is talked about here.

This site is dedicated to open-sourcing the Kinect: www.openkinect.org

The neat thing about the Kinect is that it has a pair of infrared stereo video cameras that produce a depth-map in real time. The depth map looks similar to what Philips was using with their WOWvx A3D video standard.

If the Kinect can be hacked on a PC and you can get a real-time feed of both the Kinect's video (2D video from one camera) and also the real-time depth map which aligns with the 2D camera feed, then the possibilities are endless with amazing new 3D applications you can expirement with at very low cost. Big thanks to Microsoft for such a nice piece of equipment.

Ben Hale
Orlando Digital Media | B3N Media | Production Companies

Since the Kinect is brand new and it seems like new cool uses are coming out every day, I'll just list the newer info in links below:
(1) Interactive Puppet Prototype