Patrons watch a 3D movie at an IMAX theater in Beijing in 2012. (Photo : Wall Street Journal/Associated Press)
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are trying to come up with a way to revolutionize 3-D movie theatres by ditching the use of the 3-D glasses.
3-D movies are great for experiencing more of what a film has to offer in terms of visuals. However, some moviegoers dislike 3-D cinemas because they have to wear the 3-D glasses which can pose a problem for those who have eye issues and such.
Even for the average person, 3-D glasses can be quite a nuisance simply because of their size. Still, they are required to watch 3-D movies in theatres.
MIT researchers are now trying to come up with a way to let people watch 3-D movies in theaters without having to wear the glasses. They are calling the project "Cinema 3D" which is supposed to use several groups of mirrors and lenses to make the technology possible, according to a press release.
Wojciech Matusik, an MIT Professor, said that the currently existing technology for glasses-free 3-D movies are impractical because of the enormous resolution requirements. There are already 3-D TVs that do not need glasses to view the depth but they are often limited by size and the number of viewers.
MIT's Cinema 3D project would be the first to approach the problem for a larger scale application. Their technology would allow Cinema 3D viewers to see the same picture quality regardless of where they are seated in the theater without glasses, Boston reported.
Matusik said that their project is still not ready for practical applications in theaters. The MIT researchers are still tweaking the technology and trying to find better alternatives for the materials as to lessen the production costs.
The Cinema 3D prototype makes use of 50 sets of mirrors and lenses just to project a 3-D image on to a small screen that is just the size of a paper. Matusik added that the project is "an important next step" to develop the true glasses-free 3-D movies theater experience which could be rolled out in the following years or so as the demand goes up considering that most of the films coming out can benefit from the tech.
