Poor Man's Stereoscopic Projection

Jed Link writes: "This summer I helped built a Geowall stereoscopic projection (3D) system for the Southern California Earthquake Center. Although there are no new concepts involved with this system, what is new is that the system cost a little over $10K and is comprised of materials that you can buy at any computer-hardware store. A complete description of the system, as well as a diary of its assembly is available here. Traditional stereoscopic projection systems like The Cave which is used primarily for new product modeling and on a few university campuses cost anywhere from $150K to $1.5M. They are built into a fixed location, often requiring significant architectural modifications, so transportability isn't even an option. The Geowall, on the other hand, can be fixed to a cart (like we've done) and rolled from room to room. The price-tag makes the system feasible for undergraduate post-secondary education classrooms and even high schools. The system is based on a very simple concept, and while its use is currently primarily educational, I think it's only a matter of time before we see something like this in the gaming or entertainment industries."

Comments

Is it useful though?

[bluGill]

Sure this is cool, but is it useful? 2D screens are old hat, and seem to work well. People play doom and other 3d games on them without problems, so we can fake the 3rd dimention if we try.

I can't be the only person who gets sick watching 3d films. I've only done it a few times, but that is enough that I refuse to considering doing it again. If 3d films become a major part of education, then I'm disabled because I cannot watch them.