Odd Couple Behind Nintendo 3-D Push
On Saturday, Nintendo launched its first all-new machine in nearly five years, a handheld player with a three-dimensional display that doesn't need the clunky glasses required for most 3-D viewing.
The landscape of the $50 billion videogame industry and the prospects for one of Japan's few remaining world-beating companies may rest on the fate of the new gadget, called the 3DS.
It's the latest production from an odd couple that has run Nintendo together for the past nine years: Satoru Iwata, the company's brainy technologist president, and Shigeru Miyamoto, its carefree and sometimes eccentric top game creator.
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Sony puts 2 different images on the same HDTV with 3D ‘dual-view’
(Philip Lelyveld comment: this approach is already in some cars; the driver sees auto controls and the person sitting shotgun can watch a movie.)
Dubbed “Dual-View”, the technology changes what two players in the same room see on-screen depending on where they’re seated. Essentially, the game screen would no longer need to be divided into smaller sections to accommodate multiple players each doing their own thing. No more screen looking. No more split-screen. No more squinting. “Dual View” would offer each player the entire screen.
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Look stylish with these Transformers-branded 3D glasses
These Transformers 3D glasses are set to be released just in time for the release of the new Transformers movie which was shot in 3D.
From Hasbro, it's more of a mask than a legitimate 3D product. It only costs $10, which means the lenses are probably nothing better than what you'd get from those reusable theater shades.
The 3D mask will be available May 16, while Transformers: Dark of the Moon comes out on July 1.
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Redakai, a 3D collectible card game
(Philip Lelyveld comment: lenticular game cards that change during game play!)
... When Redakai hits, it will be firing on all cylinders due to the simultaneous launch of a Cartoon Network animated series, an action figure line and a collectible card game.
When a character is attacked, a visual effect such as an energy blast or slash mark will overlay right on top of the character’s art. When they eventually transform, the art will be replaced entirely, but transparent layers along the edge will allow for stats and health to progress as the character evolves.
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Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring 3D (live in-theater performance, Birmingham, England)
Created by Klaus Obermaier, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring 3D will take place in Symphony Hall in birmingham (UK) on 21 April 2011. Nine stereoscopic cameras will feed the on-stage movements of dancers into a computer that will generate and project 3D content on to a giant silver lenticular screen positioned above the orchestra.
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Get more details at the Town Hall / Symphony Hall website here
Our Father, Who Art in 3D
Like their mainstream peers, many faith-based networks are waiting to see if 3D on TV and on the Web gains momentum.
CatholicTV Network is leading the pack with 3DCatholicTV.com. The site hosts 3D videos of some of the channel’s most popular series, including Catholic Destinations, and online extras, like a 3D version of the net’s visit with Pope Benedict XVI. Viewers can request a free pair of 3D glasses from via an online order form.
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Using 3D to understand consciousness and perception
It may sound like the stuff of science fiction films, but researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Brain Mind Institute are using virtual reality and brain imaging technology to study the feeling of owning one's body, as well as near-death and out-of-body experiences.
According to a February 17 press release, the study, which is being led by EPFL and University of Geneva neurologist Olaf Blanke, is believed to be "the first experimental, data-driven approach to understanding self-consciousness."
Each participant in the study had their brain activity monitored through a skullcap equipped with electrodes, and were then inserted into mock 3D environments through "a head-mounted stereoscopic visor or projections on a large screen."
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Rare Pixar Studios Video Tour Shows How Toy Story 3 Was Made
Ever wonder what working at Disney's Pixar Studios is like? The NYT's Melena Ryzik was granted a rare video tour of the famed animation house and the HQ looks incredible!
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Bigshot DIY Camera For Kids Finally Coming To Market (Soon)
This week at Toy Fair we caught sight of a booth filled with Bigshot cameras. These DIY digital point and shoots — developed by Shree Nayar and a talented team of students and faculty at Columbia University’s Computer Vision Laboratory — have been around for a couple of years, but not yet available on the market.
Though the camera is basic, it’s capable of a variety of shots. The lens wheel on the front has three different modes: Normal, Panoramic, and Stereoscopic for taking 3D photos. Images are saved to the camera’s on-board flash memory. Kids then transfer them to a computer and can use the Bigshot software to process the images. Once processed, the 3D images can be viewed with old-school red/blue 3D glasses.
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BBC Worldwide Keen To Invest In More 3D Programmes For Future Content
Believing that 3D technology is the next stage of innovation in the history of television given the success of 3D movies in cinemas, BBC Worldwide will seek to invest in more 3D TV programmes for future content, an executive from the commercial arm of the UK’s public broadcaster has said.
Warning that a glut of poorly-made 3D content may precipitate the death of the format, she stressed that the quality of the 3D technology employed is paramount, and that it has to enhance the story.
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