Download the report as it appeared in eSchool News as a PDF.The automobile, moving pictures, personal computers, cell phones, and social networks—all of these technologies, once considered frivolous, have made such a huge impact on our culture that our daily lives would change dramatically without them.

Could 3-D video be next?

It’s a question made relevant by new improvements (and falling costs) that soon could make 3-D video commonplace in theaters, homes, and even schools.

Owing to rapid advances in technology, 3-D video already is taking cinema by storm—and mainstream use of 3-D video in the home and elsewhere isn’t far off. What’s more, advocates of 3-D video say it has the potential to revolutionize the way students learn.

“It’s not something you watch,” says director James Cameron, who’s filmed his new movie Avatar in 3-D. “It’s a reality you feel you could step into.”

Poised for mainstream adoption

Approximately one in every three digital theater screens in the United States is equipped for 3-D video, according to the report “3-D TV: Where Are We Now and Where Are Consumers,” by David Wertheimer, CEO of the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California, and Shawn DuBravac, adjunct professor at the George Mason University School of Business.

According to the report, once given a taste of 3-D video, “consumers show significantly higher interest in viewing additional movies in 3-D and potentially buying and viewing 3-D in their homes.” Of those who have seen a 3-D movie in the last year, 60 percent are willing to spend more on a 3-D television for their home, and 19 percent are willing to spend up to 25 percent more, the report says.

3-D video is on the cusp of becoming mainstream, says the report. And with mainstream adoption imminent, education is soon to follow, says Phil Lelyveld, program manager for the Consumer 3-D Experience Lab at USC’s Entertainment Technology Center.

3-D video isn’t actually new to education; for years, it has been used in advanced research projects at colleges and universities, such as immersive virtual-reality environments. Iowa State’s Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC), for example, has been on the leading edge of 3-D technology since 2000.

That year, the VRAC opened the C6, the first six-sided immersive virtual-reality system in North America. The C6 is a 10-foot-by-10-foot room in which computer images are rear-projected onto soft vinyl screens on all four walls, the floor, and the ceiling.

To meet the VRAC’s resolution requirements and support stereoscopic viewing, four projectors are stacked vertically for each surface, reaching about 10 feet high. Images from two of the projectors blend together to make up a 4,096-by-4,096-pixel right-eye image, and the other two projectors provide the left-eye image.

To get the full immersive experience, users of the C6 use active-shutter glasses to see the images in 3-D, and they interact with the virtual world by using gloves, wands, and a variety of haptic devices. These devices are linked to the system via wireless communications.

So far, biologists have used the C6 to “shrink” themselves down to cellular level and experience a 100-million-pixel virtual cell simulation, partially funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) grants. The military also uses it to train for combat.

But such high-end 3-D applications typically cost several hundred thousands of dollars. Now, Texas Instruments (TI) has developed a 3-D chip that works with standard Digital Light Processing (DLP) projectors, bringing 3-D technology to the masses—and at prices that are comparable to those of other XGA and SXGA projectors.

That has many people excited about 3-D’s potential to facilitate teaching and learning.

“As educators, we all too often are required out of necessity to make students take three-dimensional concepts and try to learn them in a two-dimensional perspective. This disconnect creates a gap in learning between those who naturally can map back to three dimensions and those who can’t,” said Stan Silverman, professor at the New York Institute of Technology’s School of Education.

The new generation of 3-D-ready projectors “is a long-awaited innovation that will greatly change the way students learn,” Silverman added. “Now, all students can better grasp spatially related concepts—and the visual impact of all education content is likewise enhanced.”

How 3-D projection works

3-D video creates the perception of a differential between two slightly offset images when viewed by each of two eyes. By presenting each eye with a slightly offset or different image, a projection system or display can create the illusion of depth.