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Head Tracking Allows Glasses Free 3D on iPad

If I were to let my imagination run wild for a second... I could imagine working on Maya or 3DS Max or any other 3D rendering engine on a laptop, and having the iPad running a complementary application that uses this type of technology to display the scene I'm working on in real-time in "psuedo 3D" as I work on them in the 3D rendering engine.

This application would be brilliant for that, you could rotate the ipad or move your head around to look at the object you are modeling in a completely natural manner. You would basically be able to see the object you're working on in 3D as you work on it.

Same kind of thing can be used for any CAD package, or something like SolidWorks for engineering. Could be brilliant.

(The real-time idea comes from some of the stuff Adobe released in the last day or two).
 
Johnny Cheung Lee is a badboy. His Wii Remote work was simply awesome; head tracking, creating your own digital whiteboard for next to nothing etc.

He was snapped up by Microsoft - and subsequently it would appear Google - and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he was on the dev team for Kinect.

If these guys have half the talent Lee does Apple should hire them today. :cool:

Check him out: http://johnnylee.net/ :cool:
 
brilliant and well said.

a.phoenicis said:
You guys are clearly missing the point of this... It is not at all the same thing as the silly 3D movies, where you put on special glasses and get to see things jumping out at you...

This is a 2D image that is simulating depth and parallax perspective in real time based on your movements in the world.

What this means is that unlike any of the 3D effects you see in movies, you can actually move your head to the side and look behind things.

This is way more of a "true" 3D effect than what you get in the movies... That's more of a bass-relief... you never get to see anything that isn't already baked into the image.

With this effect, if there's something in your way, you can move to the side and see around it.

This is really awesome.
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well said, a.phoenicis!

really awesome, the implications of this technology coming to a iOS device is incredible...

don't just think out of the box,
think.
 
Combine this with the gyroscope and you could look around behind and under things.

I hope these guys release these demo apps into the App Store.

Imagine if Apple introduced APIs for this so OpenGL applications could have this with minimal developer work.
 
It is nice to see both Nintendo and Apple embracing this. It will make the merger in 5 or 6 years even nicer when Apple buys Nintendo.
 
acslater017 said:
I'm not a fan of 3D movies (too gimicky) but they are different technologies with different results. With this app, cool as it is, you have to move in relation to the display to get any sort of depth. As far as I can tell, this would not work for any movies/games where the camera is moving. That, and there appears to be no "z axis" depth unless you're swinging your head back and forth.

As cheesy as it is in movies, at least you can sit still in your seat and have the paddleball fly into your face. This demo appears to be more like, "you can see the paddleball string if you tilt your head to the side".
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True, if you hold your head perfectly still you won't get the 3D effect. But you never hold your head perfectly still (without conscious effort), and you hands will always be moving small amounts as well, so your head will almost always be moving relative to the face-tracking camera.

Now try going to a movie theater, and watching a 3D movie with your head held at any sort of significant angle off the vertical, say resting on the shoulder of your S.O.. It doesn't work at all then either. (You can get around that by using active [shutter] glasses, but then you're adding weight, expense, and battery life as concerns.)
 
tbrinkma said:
Now try going to a movie theater, and watching a 3D movie with your head held at any sort of significant angle off the vertical, say resting on the shoulder of your S.O.. It doesn't work at all then either. (You can get around that by using active [shutter] glasses, but then you're
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This is incorrect. The two passive 3D systems in modern cinemas use either colour filters (Dolby 3D - the glasses you must hand back) or circular polarisation (RealD - the disposable glasses you can keep). Either system works the same at any head angle.
 
SteveKnobs said:
I don't know about anyone else, but at the 1 min mark where the "targets" are being shown, they definitely look like they are protruding/jumping off the screen. I certainly don't have any experience or knowledge of this technology, but as far as I am concerned that is 3D.
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It's not, because if you were staring directly at the screen, all you would see is targets of different sizes overlaying each other. It would not LOOK 3D, in the stereoscopic sense. This demo relies on MOVEMENT to fake a 3D effect, but you're still looking at objects on a 2D screen. Each eye does not see a different image, which is a requirement for a true 3D sterescopic effect.
 
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Helmigurt said:
They did this with the Nintendo DSi back in 2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5QSclrIdlE&feature=player_embedded

The game is available in the DSi Ware Store (called Looksley's Line Up). It´s quite funny because the changing of the perspective will reveal the solutions to each diorama and the effect is done quite well.

Back then when Nintendo announced that their next iteration would feature 3d I just thought that they would implement this form of "pseudo" 3d in every game. The problem in real life: You only get the 3d effect when you move your head or your device - So it´s the totally opposite concept of the stereoscopic screens like in the 3ds or some new android phones where you can only see the effect when you look straight on the device! You have to experience both - Funny thing: You can download the DSi game on the 3DS and play it there and afterwards some 3DS 3d game to really get the idea how the two techniques behave in real life. Obviously both have their advantages!

What would be impressive is some combination of the two: "Real" 3D imaging like on the 3ds combined with headtracking..

EDIT: Some of the problems with Jonny Lees awesome concepts: You can only do it alone, the effect doesn´t work if more people are staring at the tv, and it isn´t possible with movies it´s only possible with real time rendered objects! As you can see the stadium at the end is totally flat, as opposed to how the stadium would look like with glasses and shot with a 3d camera.

But after getting my 3ds last week (together with PES 2011) I have to conclude that the 3d of the 3ds is better and more impressive even though my eyes start to hurt after playing for an hour or so..

Because they achieved this game with the DSi (133 Mhz ARM) I don´t think that it taxes the cpu very much..
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Wow. Slightly laggy, but the 3d effect was really impressive.

Regarding the 3d effect on he 3ds, does the screen have like slanted pixels that are each angled a different way? Or does it work?

It would be really neat to see a combination of a 3d screen, gyroscope/accelerometer, and head tracking for 3d on mobile/portable/desktop display.
 
I remember when Nintendo first announced that their next portable would display 3D this kind of technology was what many thought they meant.

Imagine how awesome it would be if this was combined with the 3DS tech, not only to make it possible for you to look around objects like shown in the video (that should be possible with software on the 3DS) but also to adjust the displays to send the two images to where your eyes are, not just straight forward and force you to keep the device still.
 
This shouldnt be called 3d, its not in any sense 3d. You need a stereoscopic image to do 3d. This is a cool illusion but it is not 3d at all.

Imagine how awesome it would be if this was combined with the 3DS tech, not only to make it possible for you to look around objects like shown in the video (that should be possible with software on the 3DS) but also to adjust the displays to send the two images to where your eyes are, not just straight forward and force you to keep the device still.
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Not possible. Glasses free 3d requires very narrow viewing angles, you cant move your head around or the 3d effect is lost.

This would work great with normal 3d glasses, there is no limit to the viewing angle and the glasses themselves will be able to work like the wiimote/move controller and send data about their position creating a much more accurate effect without judder.
 
If you want te get the same effect, just draw a 3D cube via OpenGL, make it rotate back and forth, and move your head at the same time :D

They just linked the camera's position with your head's position, nothing to do with any free-glass 3D stereoscopic screen. Whatever, iPhone's screen can't become stereoscopic via software, so it's not 3D stereoscopic contrary to what is said in the video (see video's title) :rolleyes:

That's just french craps who think they created something new, but it's not...
 
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Is there at least a proof of concept app available yet? And if this works on iPad it should certainly work on iPhone too, right?
 
Soon we will all see in 3D.

I can't wait for FaceTime in 3D, although I'm not so sure that will work without stereo lenses. If its worth it, Apple will make it - someday.
 
Laird Knox said:
Will pirates be able to use this technology? I'm not sure how successful the eye tracking will be when using an eye patch.
fawlty said:
Arrr, the beauty of this is that it works for people who only have vision in one eye - Google "Wiggle Stereoscopy". Presumably it be head tracking rather than eye tracking.
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But will me hook get caught on the objects when I try and drag the screen?
 
DavidLeblond said:
I'd be all for something like this. Normal 3D displays are useless to me, I have an eye condition that doesn't allow me to see 3D. So I should at least have SOME 3D fun.
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I'll second that. I am also what they now call as having "3D Blindness" where I cannot see 3D effect with glasses. This may prove to be the better way to provide 3D effect where "everyone" can experience it. Current 3D tech using glasses leaves out a good percentage of the population. Plus, no need for glasses is an advantage in itself.
 
stainlessliquid said:
Not possible. Glasses free 3d requires very narrow viewing angles, you cant move your head around or the 3d effect is lost.
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I know that but what I meant was that with further development of the technology this narrow viewing window might be able to shift sideways (not widening it) so that it's always where your eyes are. I'm just speculating and imagining and I don't know if there's any possibility for this technology to ever work this way, I'm pretty sure that 15 years ago no one thought that glasses free 3D would be practically possible
 
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