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TECHNOFILEPhotos by nait staff photographersour expertArmand Cadieux’s 20 years ofexperience as a professionaldesigner and entrepreneur includesfounding Spiral Art & Design and3D Interactive Inc., a developmentstudio that creates “serious games,”or simulations for industrial trainingand other applications. Now that he’ssold the company, Cadieux is a gamedesign instructor with NAIT’s DigitalMedia and IT program.IN3D[ Gadgets ]New 3D technology for tablets and smartphonesmeans you can forget about the glasses.THE FUTUREmost people are familiar with stereoscopic 3D,which requires the viewer to wear special glasses.The effect is created by presenting the sametwo-dimensional image from two slightly differentperspectives to the left and right eye, separately.Stereoscopic display can be achieved in various ways.Anaglyph techniques include the classic red-blueglasses, with two images in two colours viewedthrough lenses of the same colours. In alternate framesequencing, liquid crystals in the lenses of the glassesmomentarily block the viewing path, ensuring eacheye sees only the image intended for it. Still anothertechnique is polarization, where two images areviewed through polarizing glasses that filter light insuch a way that each eye sees a specific image.But going forward with 3D technology, glassesare a barrier. People don’t want them: carrying themaround is a hassle and sharing them is unhygienic.For these and other reasons – including expense –3D stereo with glasses is no longer appealing toconsumers.Autostereoscopy delivers the same 3D effect,but without the glasses. This has actually existed forseveral years but is just now beginning to penetratethe commercial market. The effect requires a screenwith extremely high resolution. Manufacturers arenow racing to develop such displays for tablets,smartphones and TVs, giving users the option ofwatching 3D movies and playing 3D games. Aswell, they’re starting to offer devices with camerasdesigned for taking 3D photos and video.In Canada, LG has released a 3D tablet, theOptimus Pad, as well as the Optimus 3D smartphone.HTC has also just released its new 3D smartphone,the Evo 3D. And – as we go to press – it’s rumouredthe next iPad and iPhone will have autostereoscopicdisplay, too (they have already achieved a displayresolution high enough!). Keep an eye out for thatand other pre-Christmas releases, when several morebrands will bring 3D-capable products to market.— Armand Cadieuxv5.1 2011 17