Why 3D cameras will finally take off
For decades humanity has experimented with binocular cameras, trying to reproduce the same sight we have in 3D. One of the first 3D cameras, Verascope f40, came out in 1938. But why hasn’t everybody gotten their own 3D cameras these days to capture their experiences—just as they have with their GoPros?
Three major reasons have kept 3D cameras from mass adoption: availability of viewing devices; sociability of 3D content; and the maturity of 3D technology.
First, until recently the only way to watch 3D content had been through an expensive 3D TV or a side-by-side view-master. As the Virtual Reality industry has ramped up and more head mount displays saturate the market, viewing 3D content has become easier than ever. Today viewing videos or images captured with 3D cameras or even VR cameras is possible not only on an expensive HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, but also on anybody’s mobile phone with a Google Cardboard. This has drastically increased the devices available for viewing 3D content.
Second, capturing 3D content and viewing it on a 3D TV would allow you, your friends and family to view it, but sharing it with someone remotely or exciting someone to jump into 3D content creation was not possible. Although Virtual Reality, especially mobile VR, allows you to transfer and watch 3D content easily, it is still an isolated experience. However, when you consider that a 3D TV costs thousands of dollars, you now need only a mobile phone and low-cost Google cardboard to view 3D content. And as I believe that VR headsets will replace mobile phones in the future, the options to consume content created by 3D VR cameras will exponentially increase.
Lastly, one of the challenges 3D technology faces, especially 3D displays, is the angle from which the person watches the video on the screen. If you are not standing directly in front of the screen at a 90° angle, the 3D effect does not work and can cause people to feel uncomfortable viewing it. Many companies have tried to make VR content viewable for everyone. Solutions range from shifting screens to segmented depth calibrations to eye tracking paired with customized playback. However, none of these technologies can currently ensure a comfortable and fast viewing experience for 3D content. This is another area where Virtual Reality headsets provide a much easier solution by literally mounting the screen directly before your eyes and using an accelerometer to adjust the display as you move your head. The additional data coming from the accelerometer provides the feedback needed to directly adjust the 3D, making it comfortable to watch. As VR technology matures, 3D playback will continue to improve.
As we have seen, Virtual Reality can finally provide a scalable platform for 3D content which was never possible before. The more VR is adopted in the coming years, the better the solution for viewing, sharing and displaying 3D content created with 3D cameras. As the VR market becomes saturated with head mounted displays, the market will not be satisfied with purely 2D 360° content, but will demand more and more true 3D content, thus giving 3D cameras the chance to come back from its prematurely-announced demise.
Ministerio de la Presidencia - Cuerpo de Gestión de Sistemas e Informática de la Administración del Estado - Moncloa
8 年Soon I will put 500 more slides explaining 3D vision and 3D cameras as they work from inside my web. It is in Spanish language but you can see the diagrams and drawings. I prefer a thousand times a 180 degree stereoscopic camera like LUCID that on the contrary a 360 degree monoscopic camera. I would love to try out your LUCID 3D camera, the level of separation between the images and the image quality, compression level, etc. I think it's a great product and I hope I can try it to do a complete analysis in Spain and Europe through my website. Congratulations, I think you have developed an incredible product and most important of all, stereoscopic. 360 degree monoscopic cameras from other companies are anti-VR. If you have any unit of evidence I would love to be able to test it and make a good report. A cordial greeting.
Ministerio de la Presidencia - Cuerpo de Gestión de Sistemas e Informática de la Administración del Estado - Moncloa
8 年Hello everyone. I am an engineer who I love stereoscopy for more than 30 years, stereoscopic cameras and virtual reality. HAN congratulations on this incredible product. They are trying to find out the distance between the two optics because I think this is super important to get the relief with quality. In my opinion the camera W3 of fujifilm with 75 mm between optics was a great camera. I think you might like the free VISION 3D book in which I talk about the history of stereoscopy, cameras, binocular disparity, parallax and other interesting topics. The book is free and can be downloaded from the following web: https://www.vrknowhow.com/book-vision-3d/
Owner, Oral & Implant Surgicenters
8 年I've been shooting 3D film slides for 60 years on David White Stereo Realists(my father was CFO of DW in the 1940's), and still love the binocular viewers and projectors and polarized glasses. There's a large user group in the USA you can access at Dr.T.com. Bruce Trefz
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8 年Something new for you?
PR & Market Analyst at SiliconAuto
8 年Totally agree that stereoscopic content is the way to go with the VR headset, as it is a stereoscopic viewing device. However, calling it 3D is another thing because stereoscopy only produces a 3D illusion. Really the 3D effect only works when the content is supposed to be viewed from a fixed point. It's still demobilising in a cinematic way. The parallax of movement is another challenge. There is still a way to go before virtual reality brings us into the third (maybe even fourth?!!!?!) dimension.