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While we bode our time for Zelda time, Brandon and I drifted into the lonely walled-off corridors to the left of the main entrance. Beyond a door and a glass wall, in a far corner, we encountered a low-key display of several otherwise-unmemorable driving games. The only immediate sign of life was in that the place seemed oddly crowded. As we neared, it became evident why: the driving game on the big-screen TV was... blurry. I looked down, and at my feet I saw a bucket full of paper spectacles: 3D glasses. Oh my. It has been a while, hasn't it. And these were not your old-style red-and-blue glasses; these are the newer type, which provide a clear, untinted picture.
We put our glasses on, and stared at the screen. The illusion of depth was perfect. Immediately, I had a better perception of what was where; of how far it was until that next corner. Of where the car sat on the road. All of the menus and displays hung out on the TV surface, making them seem to float far above, and out of the way of, the underlying action. The only problem there is that it took a moment to refocus on the spedometer or map, meaning that my eyes had to leave the playing field -- a dangerous thing to ask.
On further inspection, we realized that the game in question was EA's already-released Need for Speed: Underground. Although this is not a game I would even have reason to follow, it seemed unlikely to me that the 3D mode was an inherent feature of the game. So if this was not a new game, then what was the story here?
The story, it seems, is the television. It is... a bit more than a normal television. According to a yellow photocopied pamphlet I dug up, it is the product of a company which refers to itself as dep3D. I quote from the page:
dep3D has developed a 40" diagonal stereoscopic 3D rear-projection display system.
[...]
The complete system consists of a durable cabinet with two commercial SVGA resolution lcd projectors, a high quality Jenmar Blackscreen viewing screen and all the optical components required for long term operation.
The stereoscopic video images for the display are full resolution dual channel left and right instead of the traditional field sequential alternating left/right found in most systems. We believe that our method gives superior image quality compared to the flicker prone field sequential system and the half resolution over/under format.
(All of the punctuation errors are theirs.)
I, for one, just barely understand. What Brandon and I wonder is just what the applications and ramifications of this device might be. If it could translate one existing game in true 3D, then what can it do for other games? What kind of input does this require? How does it work? Does it only support the PC? (I must imagine that special drivers are somehow needed.) I am ignorant and I am curious! Neat gizmo does the sticky-outy thing!
I have the email address of a certain "John L. Miller" at dep3D. Stay tuned for possible answers.
The device distracted us enough that Brandon and I wholly forgot about our date with Eiji Aonuma until it was almost too late. That story is best told elsewhere, however.
Eric-Jon Rössel Waugh
is confused!
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