At Display Week 2015, in the prototype IZone booth, 3D display was alive and well. One such autostereoscopic (no glasses) technology came from a Shenzhen, China company, SuperD 3D technology, with its 3D mobile display monitor. SuperD has a 3D accessory display called 3D Box, shown most recently at CES 2015. It’s an autostereoscopic 3D (AS3D) monitor targeting mobile devices (for control and content.) The company calls this “a complex set of technologies including optics, algorithms and eye-tracking, combined with hardcore HW-SW integration and artful industrial design”. It’s meant as a second screen for mobile devices to show 2D content in AS3D (from the mobile device) using Wi-Fi direct to wirelessly connect.
super3D Co. Ltd. 3D in a Box Source, companyIt’s best described as an extension of the 2D “optical illusion” found in some hologram arcade games (Time Traveler comes to mind), only this is a discernible (“true”) 3D experience not simply a 2D image floating in space. It’s accomplished in part with a big boost from using eye-tracking technology. Once the user’s eye position is known, the image is re-rendered in 3D (real-time) sending the 3D pixel data through a lens located on the device’s LCD panel. This autostereo content is then reflected to the user’s eyes.
The display and UI is controlled by a smartphone (iOS or Android) that also provides the original 2D content. Beyond display, the technology also supports interaction with remote touch control using the smartphone’s touch screen to, say, control 3D game interaction. The 3D mobile display monitor is compatible with Android and iOS smartphones and tablets.
The technology was shown at CES in January, and now in June at SID is still considered in a prototype stage. SuperD has been around for awhile, the company has been working on 3D technology in one iteration or another for over four years. We found a YouTube video of a laptop application that was uploaded back in May 2011, (Super3D 100). Nevertheless, this updated version now targeting the smartphone mobile market shows that 3D has a new face, with the potential for second screen applications that the company is taking well beyond the conventional.
