3D Technology Summary

The process by which humans perceive three dimensions (stereopsis) wah first described by Sir Charles Wheatsotne in 1838. However, the 3D technology has traveled a very long distance from this discovery to our modern films. 3D or stereoscopy, refers to how our eyes create the impression of a third dimension. Due to the fact that our eyes are a few inches apart, our brain receives two images from a slightly different perspective. Then, our brain does some difficult geometry to make up for disparity between those two images.This complex process is what modern technology tries to replicate. In films, 3D has been achieved in two ways. First of all, there is anaglyph which uses red-and-blue glasses. The film is projected in those two colors and each eye gets an individual perspective.This technique, was not very effective because it didnt allow for a full range of color. Secondly, there is the use of polarised glasses,which uses the principle that light can be polarised. One image can be projected in a horizontal direction while the second can be projected in a vertical direction. The glasses allow horizontal polarization in one eye and vertical polarization in the other. Nowadays, a third way to get 3D has been discovered: rotational polarity. The film has two different spins to it. The glasses pick up those rotations, clockwise in one eye and counterclockwise in another eye to separate the image. The same techniques can be used in film projectors for home theaters, but this is very expensive. The most common, active 3D, involves wearing some glasses that are synced up to the television and actively open and close shutters in front of our eyes, allowing only one eye to see at a time. Passive systems are less common. These television have a thin, lenticular screen over the standard display. While this technology doesnt require glasses it can limit image quality. It is possible to create a 3D video game too, but games add their own complications. Films are largely pre-recorded and all have a fixed perspective. Video games allow you to change the perspective. This creates a labor-intensive problem because animators have to create objects that can be seen in 3D from different angles depending on where the user is looking and moving.Even though 3D technology is extremely popular throughout the globe, there still are some criticists. Mark Kermode argues that 3D adds not that much of value to a film. Robert Ebert criticize 3D film as being too dim sometimes distracting, and argues that it is an expensive technology that adds nothing of value to the movie-going experience. Another major criticism is that many of the movies in 21st century to date were not filmed in 3-D, but converted after filming. Filmmakers who have criticized this process include James Cameron, whose film Avatar was created in 3-D from the ground up and is largely credited with the revival of 3-D.

In the future we expect some serious improvements in 3D technology. First of all, we expect 3D that doesnt require glasses. There are already prototypes for 3D laptops, cameras and a variety of other tech.