Apple Foresees 3D Glasses That Use Your iPhone!

Jim here. Apple continues to patent stereoscopic 3D product ideas that seem truly revolutionary and this one is no exception! In fact this is actually a second refinement of a previous patent. The idea is to slide in an obviously VERY high resolution iPhone / iPod Touch into the frame of glasses to achieve 3D viewing for the consumer.

Word is the next iPhone will have even higher resolution, and it has a flat back like the one in this patent image. Could it be that this functionality be in our hands soon? Hard to say. Traditionally though, Apple's patents have been slow to push through and they just don't want to make any more patent mistakes by actually NOT patenting their ideas and having others, *ahem* Microsoft, take them.

Supposedly called iSpecs, the iPhone will slide into it and present side by side stereo images / video which the user will merge together naturally. The iSpecs also has a potential integrated camera which would allow the user to flip from watching media to seeing whatever was in front of them in realtime.

Of course the unit would be able to use the built in accelerometer (an iPhone and iPod touch feature that recognizes its own physical movement) to augment 3D gaming.

Looks like something that would be a no-brainer to me. Use your existing investment to enjoy hands-free 3D. We are seeing smaller autostereoscopic (glasses-free) 3D portable devices appear now, so perhaps iPhone is heading that way too. We'll see soon enough.

S3D Patents Taking Off!! The 3D Future is NOW

Jim here. Makes sense right? As stereoscopic 3D takes off so should the associated patents. And so they are. Take a look at the chart below (original Thomson Reuters PDF report available here via NY3D.org) highlighting the activity over the past 2 years vs. 2003:

Click To Enlarge...

Note the increase in patents in the television and photography industries - it is not all Hollywood is it? Not to downplay the domino effect Hollywood has had on 3D in any way - there was just more to learn and discover in these other spaces.

There is a huge upside to S3D and MarketSaw is right in the thick of it. When I decided to launch MarketSaw back in 2006 I knew there stood a very good chance that S3D was going to take off around the time of James Cameron's AVATAR - I bet the bank as it were. Not a bad gamble when you consider he does hold the modern box office record with TITANIC. Still, it was a bit of a leap and many questioned it - I was just repeating the phrase "we shall see". And now we are :-) If I had a penny for every "gimmick" comment I have heard... lol!

One obvious patent area not highlighted by this Thomson Reuters report is computing. Apple has been extremely active in this space and recently augmented their past patent filings with this one revolving around tracking "the location of a user and adjust a 3D display according to their position, creating the illusion that an on-screen object is physically present." (Thanks Joanna!). Steve Jobs knows what he is doing - no question. This is just another example of his vision. These patents will draw the user right into the screen intuitively!

Stereoscopic 3D is here to stay folks! I bet the bank on it and the fruits of the labor started over 3 years ago are now coming in. Glad you can share the journey with us!! It will be a pleasure to bring you all the exciting developments taking place in 3D over the coming years. Take January's CES in Las Vegas coming up - it will be packed to the rafters with innovations like S3DHD televisions!! Can't wait. Stay tuned!

And to whoever bought S3DHD.com - congratulations on the wise purchase! ;-) Makes me want to run out and buy S3Dnet.com, 3DHomeVideos.com and MotionPictures3D.com... oh wait a minute...

Apple Working On 3D Desktop for Future Version Of OS X!

WOW. Now this will be a stunning desktop environment if it ever comes to fruition! Take a look at what Steve Jobs and company have planned for their OS X operating system: A "Multi-Dimensional Desktop". And does it ever look stunning, even in black and white drawings - you can just imagine what that would look like with the Mac colors going on. Mmmm Mm.

Here is some of what AppleInsider had to say about the Patent Office filings:
"Generally speaking, the filings depict a 3D interface by which side walls, a top, and a floor all protrude from a back surface that resembles today's two-dimensional Mac OS X desktop. A few examples also suggest a radical departure from traditional interface design by which the Mac OS X menubar would be removed from the top of the screen and thrown into a stack or floating element.

Apple portrays an exemplary multidimensional desktop environment that includes a back surface like today's traditional two-dimensional desktop environment, which includes the Mac OS X menu bar and desktop surface. Protruding from this surface would be one or more side surfaces capable of housing object receptacles, including a "floor" that would contain the Mac OS X Dock and icon stacks positioned in the background. Other side surfaces would intersect with the floor, forming a three-dimensional box, though Apple says a "top" surface may not always be necessary.

The 3D icon stacks in the multi-dimensional Finder would fan outwards as they do in today's version of the Mac OS X but would not necessarily be tied to a linear path. They could instead fan in a three-dimensional arch towards a central region of the display, producing the perception of depth."

Be sure to see all the diagrams here!

Isn't that breathtaking? Thanks to Tim for sending me that heads up! Man, I love Apple enough already, but with the continued innovation that they churn out seemingly without effort - get me some of that stock NOW. :-P stereoscopic 3D desktops. Why isn't Microsoft doing this? Maybe they are...