Acer To Launch 3D Notebook In October?

An anonymous reader writes "Acer is planning to announce a 3D notebook computer by end of October. If Acer indeed comes out with a 3D laptop then it'll be the world's first manufacturer to do so. The most interesting thing about Acer's machine is that it requires no special glasses. The 15.6-inch notebook features built-in software which can convert regular 2D movies to 3D and directly support 3D movies." Update: 06/08 23:18 GMT by T : According to the linked story, the no-glasses version is still in the works; the current iteration does still require special glasses.

Comments

Been done.

[0100010001010011]

CSI already has these. I know because I saw it on TV. They were also able to get High Res photos out of a .5MB security camera and spin it around in 3D.

Re:Been done.

[Monsieur_F]

Err, 3D without glasses has been done before and is still a hot topic these days.

Look for "autostereoscopic" screens. (despite the name, actually more than 2 pictures are used to generate the 3D effect, more like 8 pictures)

Sharp already commercialized a 3D laptop some years ago.

WTH is a 3D Laptop???

[Itninja]

Are all the other laptops on the market existing in only two dimensions? I am pretty sure all laptops are currently three dimensional.

Re:WTH is a 3D Laptop???

[PopeRatzo]

I would love a 2 - dimensional laptop. I envision something like a sheet of paper that accepts input from my fingertips or from a stylus or from a virtual keyboard.

Don't even worry about being able to fold it or roll it. If I can just slip it into a folder among sheets of regular paper.

Yes, I know that a sheet of paper is still 3D, but I've been waiting for the electronic "paper" for like 15 years now. I remember when I worked for a university as a director of computing and went out to Cupertino for a week. This is back when Apple was still interested in the educational market, so they took real good care of us, put us up in a nice bed and breakfast. But no hookers, damn it.

Anyway, they had some spooky Apple hardware developer talk to us about the things they were planning and told us we'd definitely have electronic paper by "2001". I always thought that guy might have been on 'shrooms or something equally entheogenic. When I asked him about the Newton, he developed a slight, but noticeable eye-twitch. My guess is that today that very hardware developer is working at a Potbelly's sandwich shop after completing court-ordered rehab.

Anyway, if anybody from Apple is reading this: Stop fooling around with the fucking iPhones and get me my iPaper! Or ePaper, or whatever you want to call it.

"convert regular 2D movies to 3D"

[John Hasler]

Bullshit.

Re:"convert regular 2D movies to 3D"

[moon3]

and also converts 3D to 4D. Amazing!

Re:"convert regular 2D movies to 3D"

[Vuojo]

Exactly. These "3D" systems have been coming for decades and in the end they have been total crap. I believe when I see one with my own eyes.

Re:"convert regular 2D movies to 3D"

[PhantomHarlock]

I have seen a demo of realtime conversion - it actually works, but only about 80% good. Occasionally you'll see some problems. I saw a demo at NAB in April at Samsung's booth that blew my mind because it was actually that good, but it's still nothing compared to real stereoscopic capture. Basically it looks like a series of parallax planes, a step down from the real thing. But shockingly, it DOES work. My best guess is that it takes into account a variety of factors including haze and color, detail, dimensions and inference from motion.

I consider it to be a gimmick that distracts from real 3D content. It's -very- clever, but it is no substitute for real stereoscopic content.

Finally, a laptop not from Flatland!

[techmuse]

I'm glad that they are going to be shipping 3 dimensional laptops. Those 2 dimensional laptops that I've been using are really inconvenient. The screen and the keyboard are on the same plane, and you can't push the buttons at all, because that would require a third dimension. Even worse, my 2 dimensional laptop keeps falling through infinitely thin slots, and cut my arm off once when it fell perpendicularly to the floor while my arm was in the way. It might be 2D, but it has mass after all, so it has an infinitely sharp edge. Apple made a big deal out of the Macbook Air being .25" thick at its thinnest point. That's nothing. My 2D laptop has 0 thickness!

Summary grossly incorrect.

[Itninja]

From TFA:

"Currently, users still need to wear stereoscopic glasses for the 3D to be effective, however, Acer is developing a model without the need for glasses, although it still has quiet a few technological obstacles to overcome, Kan noted."

Suddenly, that 'most interesting thing' isn't that interesting at all.

Re:Summary grossly incorrect.

[lastomega7]

"A few technological obstacles..."
All they have to do is get the whole 3D thing working.

Inaccurate summary

[Theaetetus]

The most interesting thing about Acer's machine is that it requires no special glasses.

Wow, that is interesting... oh, wait:

Currently, users still need to wear stereoscopic glasses for the 3D to be effective, however, Acer is developing a model without the need for glasses, although it still has quiet a few technological obstacles to overcome, Kan noted.

What's next? "The most interesting thing about Acer's machine is that it runs on a hyperdimensional fuel cell weighing only two ounces but able to supply power for six months on a single charge... (but not currently, and it has quite a few technological obstacles to overcome)."
Wishful thinking makes for a good press release, but not such a good Slashdot story.

Sharp produced a 3D laptop in 2005

[Anonymous Coward]

Sharp produced a 3D laptop in early 2005.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/115348/sharps_3d_notebook.html

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/22/042253

with a no-glasses display, even. I saw one at a conference expo,
it worked pretty well for molecular graphics/viz stuff. But they never
caught on.

Actius RD3D in 2004

[Ecuador]

And you are talking about the second generation. The Actius RD3D was released a year earlier. So, this Acer is not the first 3D laptop in the sense that it exists in 3 dimensions, it is not the first 3D laptop in the sense of having a 3D capable display, maybe there is another usage of the term 3D?

Hmm... Possibly something like...

[denzacar]

Fotowoosh?

Highly unlikely that it could work in a way acceptable for viewing movies. Cardboard cutouts instead of actual 3D at best...

Glasses or Not: Both 'suck', so go with glasses

[Animaether]

Okay.. so on one hand, you've got...
- red/green red/cyan red/blue
- polarized
- shutter
- chromadepth
- etc. ...glasses. Nobody likes these, because you have to wear them.

On the other hand, you've got..
- lenticular
- uhm. nope, that's pretty much it. ...displays. Which most people don't like either, as you practically have to sit in a single spot to make it work well. There -are- displays where you can view from a few more angles (any 'tween' angles show ghosting), but always at a loss of (horizontal) resolution, as more and more images get displayed at the same time.

This only counts -stereographic- 3D methods. So a bunch of panels behind eachother (medical imaging-look, and your laptop would be as thick as a printed encyclopedia..), or displays that track where your face is so as to show a different viewpoint (doesn't give depth cues except for the illusion when you move your head side to side like some sort of pigeon on drugs), don't count.

Neither of the above 2 methods are very appealing, but if I had to take my pick, I'll take glasses *any* time. Combined with the head tracker, all the more awesome. Displays that don't take glasses simply aren't there yet for any extended use.

( See an older post of mine for various other '3d display' methods; though I'm sure wikipedia's got 'm all covered, too )

Re:CSI technicians...

[thatskinnyguy]

Act their way out of a paper bag?