Coming soon: 3D movies without those awkward glasses

Looking at a 3D movie with those odd glasses in the theatre is a sometimes awkward experience. Not only does the screen get strangely dark, but the view is not always clear. And for those of us with glasses, the viewing experience is anything but satisfactory. 

 

But that may soon change. Now, a unique arrangement of lenses and mirrors set up in the theatre is all that is to give viewers a perfect 3D cinema experience from every corner of the hall.

 

The exact arrangement for the new '3D Cinema' (the official name of this technology) will have an array of slits in front of the screen, which in technical terms is called a parallax barrier. 

 

Currently, the same arrangement is used for the 3D glasses given to you at theatres. The challenge is to embed the slits in a way that it provides an equivalent 3D experience from anywhere inside the theatre.

 

But there are plenty of stumbling blocks currently. 

 

A professor at MIT, Wojciech Matusik, believes that the screen resolution requirements for the new technology are more than what can be practically achieved now.

 

The new technology is also said to be tough to launch for big screens with the current resources. Small screen viewers can, however, expect a 3D cinema experience with certain limitations.

 

For example, viewers can only move their head up to a certain angle from their seats to experience the 3D effects correctly. Too much head-swinging will disrupt the effect. 

 

For now, all that the researchers have is a prototype of the design on paper, claimed a DNA report.  

 

The challenge is not just to bring it to reality, but also to maintain a high screen resolution.

 

Watch video: