3D

Playing a bit like a computer version of Lego, Mojang's Minecraft – the darling of the indie game movement – has been an impressive success story. It soared to mainstream popularity as intrepid players proudly showcased their elaborate creations online. Its similarity to Lego didn't go unnoticed by the toy giant, and in 2012 kids of all ages could enjoy the game AFK with a licensed brick set. The problem is, you'd need an awful lot of bricks to recreate what you can make in the game (for example, check out this version of Game of Thrones' King's Landing), so that's where Printcraft – and the magic of 3D printing – enters the picture.  Read More

Physicists at Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University have created a 3D imaging camera system capable of resolving depth on a millimeter scale at distances of up to one kilometer. Working much like a laser version of radar, the “Time-of-Flight” (ToF) measurement system “pings” a low-powered infrared laser beam off distant objects and records a pixel-by-pixel map using a detector that counts and positions individual photons as they arrive back at the source.  Read More

The EyeFly 3D screen protector film, brought to consumers by Nanovue, promises to turn regular screens in mobile devices into glasses-free 3D displays. The product, originally nano-engineered by the Temasek Polytechnic (TP) and A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering’s (IMRE) in Singapore, is not the first of its kind of the market, but Nanovue claims it offers considerable advantages over competitors. The film has no perceivable influence on screen brightness, works both in portrait and landscape mode and, most importantly, does not distort regular 2D images.  Read More

Pilots need sharp eyes, but Raytheon is looking to their ears as well. The company has developed a new 3D Audio system for aircraft, that turns information into an audible three-dimensional picture. It helps pilots identify where threats are coming from, and keeps radio channels untangled.  Read More

Workplace safety is a major concern, but training to avoid accidents often involves little more than reading manuals and watching videos before getting behind the controls of a potentially dangerous machine. University of Buffalo spinoff Tactus Technologies’ 3D Forklift Trainer uses gaming technology and software to produce a virtual environment, where beginner forklift drivers can practice without racing about a warehouse in a very heavy vehicle with prongs on it.  Read More

Adding to its previously released set of video eye-wear glasses, the Wrap 1200, Vuzix is now shipping the Wrap 1200AR. The AR (Augmented Reality) part of the tag is thanks to the addition of a stereoscopic camera pair mounted on the frames, which support VGA video capture at 30 frames per second and enable the display of 3D or 2D AR content.  Read More

A major obstruction to the development of practical 3D microchips is moving data and logic signals from one layer of circuitry to another. This can be done with conventional circuitry, but is quite cumbersome and generates a good deal of heat inside the 3D circuit. Physicists at the University of Cambridge have now developed a spintronic shift register that allows information to be passed between different layers of a 3D microchip.  Read More

It’s been a staple of science fiction for decades, but now the idea of augmented reality (AR) enhancing our lives by way of hi-tech wearable glasses is finally becoming a reality for consumers. Google's Project Glass may be getting the lion's share of attention, but prototypes and new ventures abound with any number of goggle-like devices offering immersive 3D gaming through to simply capturing your everyday life for sharing online. Now a start-up called meta has joined the fray, partnering with Epson to create AR glasses that allow virtual objects to be controlled in 3D space using hand gestures.  Read More

Today at CES 2013, LG showed off the first Smart TV game that uses Dual Play 3D technology. With this tech, two players can play the same game at the same time, and each see their own independent full-screen view. While the tech itself might not be new, seeing it implemented directly into a smart TV is something we've never seen before.  Read More