Acer SpatialLabs allows for 3D viewing without glasses on supported laptops

GGGos

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Forward-looking: Acer revealed today a new suite of 3D technologies called SpatialLabs, which allows their line of ConceptD laptops to display images in 3D. Supported display panels will make images appear to be hovering in the space between the screen and user -- all without the need of goofy looking 3D glasses.

SpatialLabs combines three elements to make all that magic happen: a stereo camera for eye-tracking, a stereoscopic 3D display, and software rendering tech to display a different image to each of a viewer’s eyes. The eye-tracking solution is placed on top of a laptop's screen, tracking the position and movement of the user's head and eyes -- that means the solution is meant to be used by a single person at a time.

The ConceptD prototype laptops currently showcasing SpatialLabs consist of a 4K resolution 2D panel with a liquid crystal lenticular lens optically bonded on top of it, meaning the laptop can be switched back and forth between 2D and stereoscopic 3D.

The suite is aimed at professionals working with 3D modeling software. According to Acer, SpatialLabs offers support for all major 3D file formats -- the press release mentions support for Blender, Autodesk Fusion 360, Maya and Unreal Engine -- allowing designers to manipulate their models in 2D in one display, while the ConceptD's stereoscopic display updates the 3D model in real-time.

SpatialLabs is not only intended to support Acer's ConceptD series of laptops, but that's where they're starting with an accompanying developer program. Acer is offering to send those admitted to the program a prototype notebook free of charge for three months. Besides the special hardware and software in the suite, SpatialLabs requires all of the computing power normally needed to smoothly operate 3D modeling software like Blender or Maya.

Older stereoscopic 3D technology suffers of some glaring issues like the need for specialized viewing lenses, causing headaches when viewed for long periods of time, or having a very narrow allowance for where the screen can be viewed without losing the quality of the 3D elements. SpatialLabs boasts of "a look around viewing experience," seeming to overcome some of the obvious obstacles of the past.

Some use case scenarios mentioned on the SpatialLabs website include an architectural rendering and an industrial designer's model for a drone, as well as the immediately obvious applications like gaming or 3D animation.

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Lg optimus was the first and last phone using this. It was a tremendous success :D perhaps 16 coll has some advantages over 3
 
OMG this - - - - again?

Did the last generation of people who tried this die off and leave no notes for the next generation?
 
If this came out in a monitor form factor, I'd seriously be tempted.

Even amber/blue or red/cyan 3D glasses can make for an impressive experience in dolphin-emu. I would love to see what essentially seems like a 3DS with eye tracking on steroids at a decent resolution, much less 4K.

Imagine your favorite first person horror game in 3D without a contraption on your face. Could be fun!
 
10 years old Nintendo 3DS technology...
and no, you wont see anything better than on 2d screen

It's much older than that. Probably like 20 years old tech. There was some laptop that first introduced it. In fact, let's go even further back. Remember those holographic Christmas postcards? They looked 3D, but only from one angle.

So, you'll have to stand in one position in front of the screen. It could work for the people who had an accident and wear that thingy that fixes their neck in one position.
 
It's much older than that. Probably like 20 years old tech. There was some laptop that first introduced it. In fact, let's go even further back. Remember those holographic Christmas postcards? They looked 3D, but only from one angle.

So, you'll have to stand in one position in front of the screen. It could work for the people who had an accident and wear that thingy that fixes their neck in one position.
Later revisions of the 3DS did have eye tracking, which negates some of this issue, and it seems similar tech is going into this laptop screen. It would fix you to a certain region in front of the screen, but not an exact spot, like early 3DS and other more simple demonstrations of this tech required.
 
Later revisions of the 3DS did have eye tracking, which negates some of this issue, and it seems similar tech is going into this laptop screen. It would fix you to a certain region in front of the screen, but not an exact spot, like early 3DS and other more simple demonstrations of this tech required.

Yeah, some of the problems could be offset with eye-tracking, but remember Mission Impossible (one of them), where Tom Cruise is using something like that to hide himself behind a screen, deep in a corridor?

It worked perfectly for one Russian guard, but when another one appeared the system was confused, didn't know for which person to display the image. The illusion disappeared and guards started shooting at them.

So, I won't be using that tech, it's can be hazardous for health.
 
Yeah, some of the problems could be offset with eye-tracking, but remember Mission Impossible (one of them), where Tom Cruise is using something like that to hide himself behind a screen, deep in a corridor?

It worked perfectly for one Russian guard, but when another one appeared the system was confused, didn't know for which person to display the image. The illusion disappeared and guards started shooting at them.

So, I won't be using that tech, it's can be hazardous for healt
Yeah, some of the problems could be offset with eye-tracking, but remember Mission Impossible (one of them), where Tom Cruise is using something like that to hide himself behind a screen, deep in a corridor?

It worked perfectly for one Russian guard, but when another one appeared the system was confused, didn't know for which person to display the image. The illusion disappeared and guards started shooting at them.

So, I won't be using that tech, it's can be hazardous for health.
This setup is for single-user scenarios - it isn't that often that a stereoscopic display would be used for two-player modes. I appreciate the joke, but you know you've gotta be pushing the inherent limits of 3d displays by saying that :p. Since this isn't a TV, single-person usage is easily assumed for this 3D use case.
Edit: fixed layout. My reply got stuck in the comment area, not below it. My apologies!
 
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This setup is for single-user scenarios - it isn't that often that a stereoscopic display would be used for two-player modes. I appreciate the joke, but you know you've gotta be pushing the inherent limits of 3d displays by saying that :p. Since this isn't a TV, single-person usage is easily assumed for this 3D use case.

Sure, for single-person usage it would work.

I even remember this old video:

(yes, those are fake windows, parallax works only for one user)
 
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