3D

Keeping tabs on the furious rate of technological development happening all around us is no easy task and the passing of another year provides a good excuse to reflect and take stock of the major milestones we've seen. So sit back in your power-generating rocking chair, crack yourself a self-chilling beverage and enjoy our take on the significant trends, technological victories and scientific bombshells of 2012.  Read More

A new interactive 3-D display developed by Californian startup Infinite Z can track hand and eye movements in real time to let users manipulate virtual objects in three dimensions in a highly intuitive way. The zSpace display could bring a new level of realism to computer-aided design, virtual reality simulations, and even gaming.  Read More

Doctor Who. He'd be nothing but an incredibly brainy (if strangely dressed) bloke with two hearts and an attitude if not for his TARDIS. The TARDIS is a combination time machine and spacecraft that can poke into virtually any nook or cranny in the entire history of the Universe. Aside from the marvelous transport capabilities, the most notable thing about the TARDIS is that "It's bigger on the inside!" – a running gag throughout the show. Now, Greg Kumparak has produced an augmented reality model of the TARDIS that produces a remarkable illusion, making the TARDIS indeed appear to be bigger on the inside.  Read More

Online shopping has made buying clothes more convenient, but the need to guess the correct size still remains. This leads to returns, frustration, and wasted resources. Research conducted by the London College of Fashion and the University of Surrey, with additional help from some specialists, aims to tackle this issue with new 3D body mapping technology designed for use at home.  Read More

The smallest gesture can hide a world of meaning. A particular flick of a baton and a beseeching gesture can transform the key moment of a concert from mundane to ethereal. Alas, computers are seriously handicapped in understanding human gestural language, both in software and hardware. In particular, finding a method for describing gestures presented to a computer as input data for further processing has proven a difficult problem. In response, Microchip Technologies has developed the world's first 3D gesture recognition chip that senses the gesture without contact, through its effect on electric fields.  Read More

It’s time to pull out the old red/cyan 3D glasses for these anaglyphs created with high-resolution stereo images beamed back from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Having revealed the fate of the Apollo lunar flags earlier this year, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) is now enabling the creation of anaglyphs to bring the third dimension to craters, volcanic flows, lava tubes and tectonic features on the lunar surface.  Read More

There are a number of different display technologies that provide the illusion of 3D images on a 2D screen. A team of researchers led by the University of Bristol has offered a new take on things by creating “Tilt Display” – a prototype screen that's split in a 3x3 configuration with the nine individual sub-screens physically moving and tilting up and down to physically represent the three dimensional content being displayed.  Read More

We like to think of technology as always being forward looking. It’s supposed to be about nanoparticles and the Cloud, not steam engines and the telephone exchange. But every now and again the past reaches out, taps the 21st century on the shoulder and says, “Have a look at this.” That’s what happened to Professor Stephen Hoskins, Director of the University of West England, Bristol's Centre for Fine Print Research. He is currently working on a way of printing 3D ceramics that are self-glazing, thanks to a 7,000-year old technology from ancient Egypt.  Read More

Along with its 84-inch 4K TV, Sony also chose IFA 2012 to unveil the latest version of its head-mounted Personal 3D Viewer. The successor to the HMZ-T1 we tried out at IFA last year, Sony claims the updated HMZ-T2 model boasts a sharper display, improved sound and is some 20 percent lighter, making it easier on the ol’ neck muscles.  Read More