3rd Dimension Veritas et Visus March 2010 Vol 5 No 3/4 Organovo, p33 Smart Holograms, p36 MIT, p55 Trinity College, p78 Letter from the publisher : Tidal Waves and Illusions …by Mark Fihn 2 News from around the world 10 Conference Summaries: 29 Prime Time in Ottawa, February 18-19, 2010, Ottawa, Ontario by Neil Schneider 45 TEI, January 25-27, 2010, Cambridge, Massachusetts 48 SIGGRAPH Asia, December 16-19, 2009, Yokohama, Japan 53 VRCAI, December 14-15, 2009, Yokohama, Japan 58 IDW ’09, December 9-11, 2009, Miyazaki, Japan 62 IUCS, December 3-4, 2009, Tokyo Japan 67 VRST, November 18-20, 2009, Kyoto, Japan 71 ACM Multimedia 2009, October 19-24, 2009, Beijing, China 77 Eurodisplay 2009/IDRC, September 14-17, 2009, Rome, Italy 82 3DTV Conference, May 4-6, 2009, Potsdam, Germany 87 Collimated backlights by Adrian Travis How can it be? 3D Illusion by Alan Stubbs Display of Three-Dimensional Images: A Review of the Prior Art by Robert A. Connor Thoughts on Avatar and 3D TV Adoption by Ross Young Film-based 3D Pushes Forward by Aldo Cugnini Last Word: The Oculus3D Projection System by Lenny Lipton Display Industry Calendar 131 The 3rd Dimension is focused on bringing news and commentary about developments and trends related to the use of 3D displays and supportive components and software. The 3rd Dimension is published electronically 10 times annually by Veritas et Visus, 3305 Chelsea Place, Temple, Texas, USA, 76502. Phone: +1 254 791 0603. http://www.veritasetvisus.com Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Mark Fihn [email protected] Managing Editor Phillip Hill [email protected] Contributors Robert A. Connor, Aldo Cugnini, Lenny Lipton, Neil Schneider, Allan Stubbs, Adrian Travis, and Ross Young Subscription rate: US$47.99 annually. Single issues are available for US$7.99 each. Hard copy subscriptions are available upon request, at a rate based on location and mailing method. Copyright 2010 by Veritas et Visus. All rights reserved. Veritas et Visus disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks or names of others. Veritas et Visus 3rd Dimension March 2010 Tidal Waves and Illusions… by Mark Fihn The past couple of months have been rather gratifying for me as many friends and industry observers have come to me and apologized for previously belittling me as being overly optimistic about the future of 3D displays. I have publicly predicted over the past five years, both in this newsletter and in public forums, that 3D technologies are coming and coming much faster than anyone expects. (And I must admit that 3D is now coming much faster than even my optimistic view of the technology ever predicted). I’ve backed up my enthusiasm by acquiring a 3D-ready DLP TV about 2-1/2 years ago, followed by a 3D monitor almost 2 years – both of which get more than a little use. I can’t tell you how many people have shaken their heads with disbelief and told me that 3D is just a fad that will fade quickly. Even well-known industry analysts have repeatedly downplayed 3D display technologies, (with the major market researchers all but ignoring the growing market trends – up until very recently. Well, let me be bold and predict that the “tidal wave” of enthusiasm for 3D is unlikely to change any time soon. I suspect that virtually 100% of all TVs sold in 2012 will be “3D-ready”. And I’m starting to suspect that autostereoscopic displays are going to invade our homes much faster than previously expected. (Most industry observers will still tell you the technology is “at least 10 years away”, but I’m betting we’ll start seeing very credible and commercially affordable autostereoscopic solutions within 5 years or perhaps even less. Hollywood will certainly continue to lead the way. Here’s the latest summary of leading 3D movie grosses (US market only). Amazingly, Alice in Wonderland rose to #3 after just 10 days of release – running at a pace similar to the recent blockbuster Avatar. Note also that almost all of these 3D movies were released in the last year – signifying a huge surge in the format that shows no sign of slowing. Rank Title (click to view) Studio Lifetime Gross Date 1 Avatar Fox $736,907,957 12/18/09 2 Up BV $293,004,164 5/29/09 3 Alice in Wonderland (2010) BV $265,433,637 3/5/10 4 Monsters Vs. Aliens P/DW $198,351,526 3/27/09 5 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Fox $196,573,705 7/1/09 6 A Christmas Carol (2009) BV $137,855,863 11/6/09 7 Chicken Little BV $135,386,665 11/4/05 8 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Sony $124,870,275 9/18/09 9 G-Force BV $119,436,770 7/24/09 10 Bolt BV $114,053,579 11/21/08 http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=3d.htm As a journalist covering the world of 3D displays, I can attest to the tidal wave associated with enormous amount of news that is coming out about 3D technologies and applications. It’s truly overwhelming and I must report that I’m really struggling to keep up with it all. My friend Art Berman wrote up a listing of all the press releases issued at CES that were related to 3D, which I include on the next page: 2 Veritas et Visus 3rd Dimension March 2010 3D Tidal Wave at CES 3D TV products Samsung to unveil 14-inch OLED capable of 3D Samsung will integrate Real D’s 3D tech into their 3D TVs LG sets 3D TV target, to offer new lineup in 2010 Mitsubishi Offers Two 3D-Ready HDTV Lines Panasonic Plasma Panel Plant to Serve as 3D TV Supply Base 3D computers MSI to show 3D notebook, dual-screen e-reader at CES 3D set top boxes Next3D to Launch Broadband-Delivered Stereoscopic 3D Home Service in First Quarter of 2010 STMicroelectronics Unveils 3D-Ready Set-Top-Box IC Enabling TV Providers to Realize Consumer- Friendly Content Convergence 3D on cell phones Get your 3D Glasses Ready, iHologram App for iPhone Coming Soon 3D encoding and transmission Next3D Announces Patent-pending Technology for Encoding and Universal Playback of Stereoscopic 3D Content Magnum Semiconductor Announces 3D Recording and Playback Solution with TDVision Systems TDVision Systems and CyberLink Announce Full HD Stereoscopic Video Decoding Solution Compatible with NVIDIA 3D Vision 3D signage Magnetic 3D debuts new auto-stereoscopic 3D tech at CES The Seelinder: Cylindrical 3D display viewable from 360 degrees 3D gaming iZ3D Announces Premium 3D Lens Technology for Gaming at CES Industry’s First S3D Gaming Conference Announced! WebOS finally getting 3D game support? "Shake&Spell 3D" adds a whole new dimension to social gaming 3D projection screens Da-Lite’s 3D Virtual Grey Projection Screen Increases Brightness Over 40 Percent 3D photo frames Fuji 3D photo frame 3D broadcasting ESPN and DirecTV in the US are to launch stereoscopic 3D services in the first half of 2010. Panasonic, DirecTV team up on 3D Next3D and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. to Collaborate on Stereoscopic 3D HD Content Delivery to the Home Time Warner Cable in Talks to Carry ESPN 3D Channels Discovery, Imax and Sony Form 3D Television Channel "ON" SkyLife 3D channel DirecTV to Launch 3D HD Channels 3D theater TotalMedia Theatre 3 Features Blu-ray 3D Playback Using NVIDIA GeForce and NVIDIA 3D Vision Technology CinemaCity at Arabian Center brings Dolby 3D Digital technology to the UAE 3D players 3 Veritas et Visus 3rd Dimension March 2010 Sony confirms 3D Blu-ray, introduces iPhone app for remote control 3D Standards MPEGIF Kicks off 3DTV Working Group at CES 2010 HDMI upgrade one of latest pieces in stereo 3D puzzle 2D - 3D conversion Quartics and DDD to Demonstrate a Stunning 3D Experience on Electronics Devices at CES 2010 New JVC Unit Offers Real-Time 2D-to-3D Conversion and 3D L/R Mixing 2D-3D Conversion / $40 gets you stereoscopic pseudo-3D on the PSP. No… really 3D glasses Bit Cauldron Fills Critical Gap in 3D Ecosystem: Demonstrates 3D Glasses for Home Theater and Gaming at 2010 International CES XpanD nabs Spanish rights to 3D pics 3D content creation Samsung, DreamWorks Animation and Technicolor Form a Global Strategic Alliance for 3D Home Entertainment in 2010 Yogi Bear Director Eric Brevig to Tackle 3D Korean War Epic BSAT Labs 3D to use VFX facility in India Offhollywood Takes "The Mortician 3D" to Another Dimension with State-of-the-Art 3D Production Gear, Tech Support, and Talent Bitmanagement cooperates with 3Dconnexion for 3D Realtime Rendering New 3D software Majesco Entertainment Announces "Hot and Cold: A 3-D Hidden Object Adventure" is Now Available for Download on DSiWare 3D chips NXP Introduces Advanced 3DTV Processor 3D test and evaluation Testronic Labs Debuts New 3D Test Lab New 3D technologies Cobalto Cellphone: Which can create 3D images in the Air Welho 3DTV test leaves glasses behind 3D cameras Sony plans to introduce 3D-technology in its SLR cameras Quasar 3D rig used to capture Dave Mathews Band concert live New 3D reports Goldman Sachs: 3D TV Will "Fall Short of Hype" 3D Display Revenues Forecast to Reach $22B by 2018; 3D-Ready TV Shipments to Reach 64M Units DisplaySearch forecasts that 1.2 million 3D-capable TVs will be shipped in 2010, with growth to 15.6 million sets in 2013 Study: 3D TV Tech Growing Faster than Theatrical The bottom line? Beyond any doubt, 3D has finally arrived. Insight Media will be fully reporting on these news stories as well as all maters 3D in our Large Display Report and Mobile Display Report newsletters.