New 3D Game Tech Arrives

Nintendo, the largest independent gaming company in the world, is leading the way with a new portable system featuring a three-dimensional display. Enjoy video games without 3D glasses!

The Nintendo 3DS lists for $249.99 and is the first game system with 3D-screen tech available to consumers.

Some, however, see this product as a significant risk for Nintendo because of market perception and development costs.

3D also brings back some bad memories for Nintendo of its massive 1995 flop – Virtual Boy, a product which used stereoscopic 3D technology in a harsh red and black display. It gave gamers headaches after only a few minutes.


But WMB views the new 3DS as a well-executed handheld gaming system which boasts an effective and compelling display. Judging by sales records, consumers seem to agree.

New And Different

The 3DS is a smooth, plastic, clamshell rectangle with dual screens, a direction pad, and various control buttons. But it’s the small details that matter. When you start counting them on the 3DS, it quickly becomes a new and different animal.

The most notable physical differences compared with its predecessors are the analog control pad, the larger, upper 3D screen, and the two-lens 3D camera. From a playing perspective, the analog pad is the best addition to the 3DS, according to industry reviews.

It’s a concave rubber circle which can slide around in a circular area, similar to Sony’s Playstation Portable. But it’s much more comfortable than the PSP since it sits naturally under your thumb and offers just the right control.

The top screen display is what gives the 3DS its name. It’s a wide-angle, 3.5-inch, glasses-free 3D LCD using a special visual filter to send two different angles of view into your eyes.

The unit is 0.7 x 5.3 x 2.9 inches (HWD), 8.3 ounces and is offered in “aqua blue” or “cameo black.”

Under The Hood

Beyond the external designs, the 3DS has additional power and is capable of supporting higher-resolution graphics.

But the 3D screen requires more power and, consequently, the 3DS only has a battery life of about five hours. To charge, the 3DS can be placed in a cradle; however, it’s not an inductive charger.

Nintendo also includes a set of augmented reality cards for use with its preinstalled AR Games app on the 3DS. A set of six cards featuring Nintendo characters work with the AR Games app to produce an augmented reality effect.

The user places a card on the table, points the camera to it, and AR Games makes 3D statues of Mario, Samus, or Link, jump right out of the table. Another game called Face Raiders, comes preinstalled; you can take (pictures) of your face and turn them into evil robots.

Think of the implications: A simple game is now capable of rendering 3D images of the user – astounding!

Nintendo has announced several new wireless and online features and services for the 3DS. This includes the SpotPass function for quickly connecting at Wi-Fi hotspots. This function also can share data with nearby users, including a Virtual Console with classic NES games with 3D effects.

Further, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, and Turbo-Graffix-116 titles are available for download.

The Bottom Line

Glasses-free 3D has been the dream of millions who have been frustrated and irritated by wearing cheap, uncomfortable plastic glasses at a theater, or heavy, expensive active-shutter 3D glasses at home to view 3D content of compatible HDTVs.

Companies have tinkered with glasses-free 3D products in the past but many, including WMB, think Nintendo is on to something. It actually works!

The effect is still far from perfect, but the 3DS screen stands as the best glasses-free 3D display you’ll find on the consumer market today.

TechMan

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IBM: Tech May Change Us

While predicting the future is a risky business, many technological advances envisioned long ago are becoming today’s realities.

IBM, in a document called “Next Five in Five,” identifies technology innovations that could change the way people work, live, and play.

The innovations chosen for the recently released fifth annual list are based on two criteria:

Major trends emerging in society and the marketplace; tech under development at IBM laboratories, and technologies that have the potential to make innovations possible.

Here’s what IBM’s Next Five in Five sees on the horizon.

Better Batteries and Power Use

Advances in transistor and battery technology will allow electronic devices to last about 10 times longer than today. In some cases, it might be possible to eliminate batteries.

IBM is developing batteries that use the air to react with energy-dense metal. If perfected, the result is a battery that is lightweight, powerful and rechargeable.

Another possibility, according to IBM, is the possibility of battery-free electronic devices capable of being charged using a technique called energy scavenging.

In this process, simple physical movement is used to charge the device. To accomplish this, the amount of energy required by each transistor is reduced.

To this end, IBM is developing III-V semiconducting nanowires to stop “leaking” in the transistor’s off-state.

Display in 3D

As 3D and halographic cameras get more sophisticated and miniaturized, it’s becoming possible for people to interact with other people and with data in entirely new ways.

This is being enabled, in part, through the use of “telepresence.’’

The continuing explosion in the number of Internet-connected devices will possibly jam networks. In five years, network providers will develop new technologies to deliver 3D and other services.

Networked Sensors

Sensors will be in a vast array of devices. These sensors will be continually interrogating the environment.

It will be possible to wirelessly collect this data and analyze the environment in real time and in ways not currently possible.

Smart Commuting

Commuters will be able to quickly access personalized recommendations to help them get them where they want to go in the fastest time possible, according to IBM.

Transportation agencies and city planners will be able to proactively design, manage and optimize transportation systems capable of better handling ever-increasing traffic flow.

This new capability will be based on more than just monitoring data collected from sensors in vehicles, roads, toll booths, bridges and intersections, and from traffic reports and weather conditions.

IBM is developing new mathematical models and predictive analytic technologies.

They will serve to analyze all possible scenarios that can affect commuters and enable the development of adaptive traffic systems.

Such systems will teach traveler patterns and behaviors, and provide them with greatly improved real time safety and route information.

Waste Heat Management

Technological innovations will enable waste heat, currently dumped by computers into the atmosphere, to serve useful purposes.

To accomplish this, IBM is developing a novel network of microfluidic capillaries that attaches directly to each processor. The capillaries bring water to within microns of a chip.

By having water flow close to a chip, heat is efficiently removed. This ensures the processor operating temperature remains below the allowed minimum.

The removed heat can consequently be used to heat a building. This technology also serves to reduce the carbon footprint of the computer.

What We See

WMB believes each of these technologies has enormous potential, and we’re anxious to see how each evolves into direct benefits or indirect advances.

Doubts persist about predictions? Consider the longevity of Moore’s Law, first put forth by Gordon Moore in 1965.

Moore, co-founder of Intel, noted the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented.

He predicted this trend would continue indefinitely.

Though the pace has slowed a bit, data density continues to double about every 18 months – the current definition of Moore's Law.

Time will tell on IBM’s Next Five in Five.

 TechMan

3D Imagery Means Plenty to See

Talk of three-dimensional technology is everywhere these days and for good reason. Many people see the value of the life-like images as a powerful tool for professional applications, and as compelling entertainment for the consumer market.

Industry analysts expect 3D to become much more important in the education community and professional entertainment venues, such as home theater. Seminars are popping up worldwide about the latest trends and business opportunities involving state-of-the-art developments in hardware and software.

3D imagery enhances the illusion of depth perception and is derived from stereoscopic photography, according to Wikipedia. In this process, a special motion picture camera is used to record the images as seen from two perspectives.

Today, with the aid of the computer technology, it also can be accomplished digitally. The images are then coupled with special projection hardware and/or eyewear to provide the illusion of depth when viewing the images on the film. 3D is not limited to films, but also includes television broadcasts and direct-to-video films.

A 3D television employs the same techniques as film, such as stereoscopic capture, multi-view capture, or 2D plus depth, and a 3D display, a special viewing device to project a television program into a realistic three-dimensional field. 3D episodes were popular in the late 1990s, but the technology and broadcast standards were not refined enough for public acceptance.


Since last month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the release of the movie “Avatar,” 3D is once again raging like wildfire. There has not been one day since without a major announcement on the release of the next movie, TV, Blu-Ray player or connector.

The most recent example of 3D application is the current Olympic Games broadcast from Vancouver, Canada. If you want to experience the broadcast, go to the Olympics in 3D website. It offers a look down (Google Earth-like) view of the event on your PC and produces a full control 3D experience.

Even though TV broadcast technology is slow to evolve, it’s a safe bet the upcoming 2014 Olympics to be held in Russia will be broadcast in 3D.

There is an increasing emergence to develop unique 3D viewing systems which do not require the use of special viewing glasses. This technique is referred to as autosteroscopic displays.

The first display of this kind emerged in Japan from Hitachi in 2009. China manufacturers are poised to release their version in 2010. As we blog on this topic, manufacturing trials are being run for television and for LCD displays used in PCs.

For the personal computing gaming market, the first commercial applications will likely be handheld gaming devises. These systems are still in development for the film industry.

Panasonic and Samsung are two of the leading electronics companies pushing the frontier for 3D technology. These companies have successfully moved the market from black-and-white to color, and high-definition TV.

But immersive, totally realistic imagery is the last and final frontier, according to Panasonic’s USA CTO Eisuke Tsuyuzaki. Examples of the latest hardware include Panasonic’s new line of full HD 3D products scheduled for release this spring. Should be interesting!

Other areas of opportunity for leading edge 3D technology include:

• 3D Displays
• 3D for Learning Environment & Immersive Teaching
• Light Field & Halo Graphic Displays
• Projector & Stereoscopic 3D Projectors
• 3D Content including games & software
• 3D in Home Theater
• Capitalizing on Glasses-free 3D
• Interactive 3D systems
• Standardization & Measurement of 3D Imaging

We think 3D is poised to become the next and final frontier market for image presentation. And, there’s a lot of room for development and opportunity.

Since HDTV is all but perfected and opportunities are huge, as evidenced by recent blockbuster “Avatar,” consumers are eager and anxious for the once-elusive enigma and holy-grail –- 3D imagery.

The stakes are enormous, and the technology is in place to evolve into the next multi-billion-dollar industry!

This post is courtesy of TechMan who writes about industry and technology trends.