Nintendo's announcement that its next generation hand-held gaming platform will feature glasses-free 3D, once again places Nintendo in the forefront of technological innovation. Time and again, Nintendo has pushed the technological envelope, reinventing what we think of as gaming. Mario Paint, the Wii, Wii Fit, the Gameboy and the DS. All of these products have taken gaming in new directions, unfettered by the preconceptions of established market. 3D, partciularly 3D without glasses, is a bold, innovative step that will help propel the company forward even as it faces new competition from the Apple iPad.
I am currently working on an article about scanning slides, so I've spent a fair amount of time over the past few weeks culling through the family archive of stereo slides from the fifties and sixties. It is amazing how much more exciting photographs can look when you view them in the third dimension. (In fact, stereo slides often look dull if you take away the depth by just closing one eye.) The problem with 3D for me has always been the glasses. With the digital slides, for instance, you either had to where polarizing glasses (which blocked out light/color) or use a viewer.
This is why I was so excited by Nintendo's announcement today. I've already seen this type of technology used on Fuji's 3D camera. No self respecting tween is going to want to wear dorky glasses. The thing that makes 3D difficult without glasses is the relatively narrow viewing angle that, for the most part, has made it impractical for tvs. In a one-person-one-display situation, however, the 3D experience can work very well.
It will be interesting to see if the 3DS becomes a viewing platform for digital 3D photos, as well as gaming. Then, perhaps, I can finally trade in those boxes of 3D slides.
