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iPad 2, iPhone 4 get glasses-free 3D using head tracking (video)

iPad 2, iPhone 4 get glasses-free 3D using head tracking (video)

French researchers have managed to develop glasses-free 3D technology for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4 based entirely on how you’re looking at their screens.

The technology is in its early stages now, judging from the video below, but it shows that both the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 (as well as many other devices) can deliver 3D experiences without the need for glasses, and without specialized screens like those found in Nintendo’s new 3DS portable console.

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Jeremie Francone and Laurence Nigay from the Engineering Human-Computer Interaction (EHCI) research group at the Grenoble Informatics Laboratory are the mad geniuses behind the video. They say that their head tracking technique relies only on the front-facing cameras in the devices to create a “glasses-free monocular 3D display.” It doesn’t take advantage of the iPad 2 or iPhone 4’s acccelerometer at all — which means that the technique could conceivably be replicated in any device with a camera facing the user.

The two say they were inspired by the work of Johnny Chung Lee, who showed off a similar glasses-free head tracking demonstration on the Nintendo Wii several years ago.

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If it manages to make its way outside of the research phase, the technology could open up the door for glasses-free 3D gaming, 3D model viewing and more on standard device screens. It would also accelerate the push to 3D, which is currently limited by clunky glasses and expensive glasses-free 3D screens.

Via Electronista and Macstories

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