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MIT Developed A Movie Screen That Brings Glasses-Free 3D To All Seats (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader writes from a report via TechCrunch: MIT has developed a glasses-less 3D display for movie theaters. The Nintendo 3DS is one of a handful of devices to feature glasses-less 3D, but it is designed for a single users where the user is looking at the display head-on at a relatively specific angle. It's not something made for a movie theater with hundreds of seats, each of which would have a different viewing angle. What's neat about MIT's 3D display is that it doesn't require glasses and it lets anyone see the 3D effect in a movie theater, no matter where they are sitting. The MIT Computers Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) created the prototype display called 'Cinema 3D' that uses a complex arrangement of lenses and mirrors to create a set number of parallax barriers that can address every viewing angle in the theater based on seat locations. It works in a movie theater because the seats are in fixed locations, and people don't tend to move around, change seats or alter their viewing angle too much. What's also neat about the Cinema 3D is that is preserves resolution, whereas other glasses-less 3D displays carry cots in terms of image resolution. The prototype is about the size of a letter-sized notepad, and it needs 50 sets of mirrors and lenses. It should be ready for market once researchers scale it up to a commercially viable product.

19 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting sleep arrangement by Darth+Twon · · Score: 4, Funny

    whereas other glasses-less 3D displays carry cots in terms of image resolution.

    So that begs the question: what kind of bedding can we expect from this glasses-less 3D display?

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    Take this sig and smoke it.
    1. Re:Interesting sleep arrangement by mark-t · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Can someone enlighten me as to approximately when the expression "begs the question" started to mean "raises the question", instead of the informal fallacy of assuming that an unproven premise is true as part of a conclusion?

    2. Re:Interesting sleep arrangement by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I beg your pardon but I beg to differ.

    3. Re:Interesting sleep arrangement by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Irregardless, I could care less.

    4. Re:Interesting sleep arrangement by Wraithlyn · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just give it up. That cat will never go back in that particular bag. English changes over time with usage.

      Personally, I'm fine with it. Intuitively, "begs the question" means the same as "demands the question"... because "begs" and "demands" mean the same damn thing. Phrases making sense intuitively is a good thing, IMHO.

      Just use "assumes the conclusion" for the fallacy (which again, makes more intuitive sense anyway), and stop trying to perpetuate the original meaning which will never, ever take over as the common usage again.

      Just my two cents.

      --
      "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
  2. Is 3D all that? by tgibson · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have yet to see a movie where I thought the 3D enhancements made the movie superior over a conventional screen. Regarding Nintendo's 3DS, I noticed that my daughters disable the 3D feature because they find it distracting. Is anyone pining for a movie to come out in 3D?

    1. Re:Is 3D all that? by Dunbal · · Score: 2

      Even worse nowadays is that a lot of movies are available in both formats, but obviously there are shots which you can tell ONLY exist for the 3D version so that something "coming out of the screen" can impress 4 year olds which would never have made it in a regular movie because they're stupid.

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      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  3. Waste of effort by Grishnakh · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sorry, but theaters are obsolete, and gimmicks like 3D are only going to slightly delay the inevitable. Why would I want to waste my time and money watching a movie at a theater when I can just watch it at home and get many benefits: no screaming kids, no people talking on their cellphones, a rewind button so I can go back if I didn't understand a line of dialog, a pause button so I can go to the bathroom, no sticky floors, the best-positioned seat instead of one way off to the side, whatever food I want instead of some crappy overpriced concessions, whatever kind of seat I want (such as a recliner), and the ability to watch the movie at whatever time I want?

    1. Re:Waste of effort by Gavagai80 · · Score: 2

      Some people go to the theater to get away from the screaming kids, family members talking on their cell phones, etc which they have to deal with at home.

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    2. Re:Waste of effort by chispito · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why would I want to waste my time and money watching a movie at a theater when I can just watch it at home and get many benefits...

      I almost never get a chance to go to the theaters any more, but I still see the value in many cases. First, you're not at home. Sometimes it's nice to go out for the sake of going out. Second, most genres of film are better with an audience. Comedies are much better with an audience, though the audience can also spoil it if they aren't invested (much like stand-up). Third, the picture and sound are almost certainly better than what you have at home. I saw Interstellar at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood and I'm glad I did. Home theaters are great, but they aren't the same.

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      The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
    3. Re:Waste of effort by Gaygirlie · · Score: 2

      I've literally never seen a person talk on their phone in the theatre. That's the kind of behaviour that would get your ass kicked out... Is it an American thing?

      Probably, yes. People do text on their phones a lot these days, probably a lot more than talking on them.

      It's certainly not a thing over here. People do turn their phones off or silent and they don't play with them during movies.

      Reserved seating? You're kidding, right? I've never, ever, ever, ever seen a theater like that in my many decades of theater-going.

      Most theaters over here do reserved seating. As long as you buy the tickets a couple of hours or days ahead of time you can choose what seat(s) you wish to occupy.

  4. Of course people move around by chispito · · Score: 2
    I don't agree with this statement:

    people don't tend to move around, change seats or alter their viewing angle too much

    All it would take is moving to the left or right a couple inches and you're on your way to a headache.

    --
    The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
  5. should be ready when it's ready by fisted · · Score: 4, Funny

    It should be ready for market once researchers scale it up to a commercially viable product.

    Well no shit.

    1. Re:should be ready when it's ready by flopsquad · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It should be ready for market once researchers scale it up to a commercially viable product.

      See also: quantum computers, invisibility cloaking metamaterials, and fusion.

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      Nothing posted to /. has ever been legal advice, including this.
  6. 2 Things... by OfficeLackey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As has already been said, I've yet to watch a movie with 3D and thought, 2D just wouldn't have cut it. This whole 3D thing is kind of a dead horse and I'm getting really tired of people kicking it. Secondly, you have to know that they will also build this into the next "gotta-have-it" television/monitor. Where does it end? It's high-def 1080p. No it's curved! Better yet, it's back lit. No, 4k! Oh 4K in 3D!! You know, any more I just want to watch a show/movie that the story doesn't suck. I want the story to draw me in so I am mentally engaged with it. NOT, "I'm watching the equivalent of paint drying". They might have used a really fancy paint sprayer, but it's still paint drying.... (Damn! I must be getting old)

  7. Its not wearing glasses that causes headaches by mark-t · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's the forced stereoscopy.... when you project different images into each eye, unless you are sitting only at certain spots in the movie theater, the angle that your eyes will have to converge to fuse the two images into a single 3d image in your visual cortex is unnatural with respect the distance that the visual differences between the two objects conveys to your brain about the apparently distance of what you are seeing.

    Holograms would not have this effect, since where you are focusing on when you view a hologram is consistent with where the 3d image actually is supposed to be. The image appears as fully 3 dimensional as would looking at real physical objects on the other side of a pane of clear glass, or looking at things in a mirror.

    But I imagine we're still some years away from real holographic movies being a thing.

    1. Re:Its not wearing glasses that causes headaches by MountainLogic · · Score: 2

      Is is simple Lenticular projection. The "magic" (lower case) is reducing the number of angles because folks are stuck in seats. This was done much better by Alioscope for CRTs and LCds many years ago. That was really "Magic" stuff.

  8. Re:Is there really a need for this? by jader3rd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Are there a bunch of people for whom the 3D polarized glasses are specifically an issue?

    It's been my experience, that the movie is fuzzier with 3D glasses. Both my wife and I had experience where we'd see a movie with her family in 3D, then go see it later on our own in 2D and were blown away the second time by how nice the film looked. Now we have kids and certainly don't have the time to see a movie multiple times in the theater, but because of our previous experience we always opt for 2D.

  9. But can you look anywhere on the screen? by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a fundamental problem I have with 3D films. The focal point is always where the director decided it should be so if you try to look at something off to the side of the screen, the 3D illusion falls apart.