UPDATE: Refocusing MarketSaw - The State Of The 3D Industry - Your Feedback Is Appreciated!

Hi everyone! It's been awhile and I'm looking forward to posting daily and often. I'm going to kick things off by asking your opinion on where you'd like to see MarketSaw go in the future.

It's a sad fact that 3D movies have a couple of black eyes from the lack of native 3D productions being shot and that 3D home entertainment is practically dead. Sure, there are plenty of converted 3D movies out there but that doesn't translate to an optimal movie-going experience in the theater. Has 3D conversion improved over the years? Absolutely. Is it equivalent to a natively shot 3D production? No.

And no major manufacturer is producing 3D televisions anymore. Such a shame - just when LG just about nailed it.

So where are? Well VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) are certainly in play but there must be valid business uses for them. Gaming? Sure. But I'm talking mainstream entertainment - how can VR and AR add to our movie-going experience? I've seen some interesting demos and videos on various company's products that are certainly cool, but I'm not seeing how the industry can make money in a substantial and sustained way.

I'd like to include VR and AR with the 3D pedigree of this site because, well, 3D is a key component of VR. They're intricately related.

What kind of VR/AR/3D news, reviews and interviews would you like to see on MarketSaw? You can send me an email (it's in the contact me area at the bottom of every page), comment on this post, or call me on my cell if you have the number.

THANKS! I appreciate your reading loyalty over the years and I'm really looking forward to launching a new focus!

3D Geek Alert: Augmented Reality and Touchable Holography!

Jim here. Some cool developments in what is becoming known as 'Augmented Reality' and 'Touchable Holography'! First up, lets have a look at some cool gaming technology using a handheld portable device. While the interface is not stereoscopic 3D, it certainly could be kicked up a notch to do that with something like a lenticular lens.

AUGMENTED REALITY is all about introducing virtual elements into a real world environment. Georgia Tech developers have created a game where a town square is situated on a flat piece of paper - you then use your portable device to view the town through its camera screen. The game is called "ARhrrrr" which pretty much nails the gist of the game: Zombie hunting.

Towns people are trapped in the town square and you must save them from invading hordes of zombies. By looking through your device, the town becomes an interactive game world, much like AVATAR's toys come to life when you scan their i-TAG. When you move your device around, it will seem like you have a bird's eye view to the mayhem and the perfect vantage point for zombie termination.

Don't forget I introduced you guys to this tech back in March of this year. AND I have an idea to take this a step further - have your friend(s) use his device to operate another sharpshooter -OR- become a super zombie. All you would need to do is link the devices so that each knows what the others are doing. I hope the inventors are reading this! AWESOME technology. Heck if you had standard objects for buildings, cars etc - you could build your own battle environments with a computer program and printer! Add in stereoscopic viewing and think of the immersive factor for these games.





How about Touchable Holography? I knew this technology would arrive when I saw the individual components for this develop over the past year - like the Ultrasound Tactile Display (October 2008). I have got to see and feel this in action because now holography is involved! The applications are endless and the technology seems to be evolving fast.

They actually use Wiimotes as their infrared cameras in combination with retroreflective markers to track the user's hand position.

If you are going to SIGGRAPH 2009 you can see it for yourself. And for a PDF on how it works - check this out.




We are getting closer and closer to the ultimate 'Holodeck' experience! Mix in something like the EON ICUBE and we are there. Make it so!!

Avatar Toys Show Off Augmented Reality "i-TAG" System

Hi, Michael here with video of the augmented reality "i-TAG" system being demoed in the Avatar section of Mattel's booth here at Comic-Con.

Each Avatar toy will come with a special card. After a one-time software download, any card can be scanned with a webcam, summoning an AMP Suit, RDA Gunship, or other model onto the screen, which can then be moved around or given special commands.

I was very impressed with the quality of the digital models and the speed and fluidity with which the on-screen models responded to user movements or "button" input.

Check out the video below for a demo of the AMP Suit:



RDA Gunship:



The Mattel representatives were giving out the following scannable cards. http://www.avataritag.com/ should have more info soon.