Imagine you're back in school, and you're learning about the human body. You open your book and see the flat image of a skeleton on your page. You imagine what it must really look like and try to study as best you can. Now, imagine you're a student today. ... That's where the imagination stops. Thanks to new technology developments in projection and filming, students soon will be able to see the human body and other complex images, projected up close and in three dimensions. Welcome to the real education of the future.

3-D images floating out of screens, and kids in lightweight glasses with their jaws dropping open, might sound like science fiction--but in less than a year, school across the country will be piloting 3-D projectors to give all students, and especially those who are visual learners, a chance to fully understand the curriculum.

"It's not something you watch," says director James Cameron, who's filming his new movie Avatar in 3-D. "It's a reality you feel you could step into."

Cameron is one of many directors using 3-D video to enhance movies. In fact, between movies and the availability of high-end, low-cost 3-D technology, 3-D video is now on the cusp of being home- and school-ready.

Interestingly, 3-D imaging is actually an old technology. It was first created by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1838 through "stereopsis," or the perception of depth, and his invention of the stereoscope in 1851 was viewed by Queen Victoria.

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.

It's estimated there were a million stereoscopes in living rooms around the globe by the mid 1850s, but owing to the technology's lack of sophistication, consumers had headaches as a result of eyestrain and images were shaky at best. Not until the late 1990s, when IMAX began projecting in 3-D, did the platform really gain momentum.

In 2005, Hollywood studios' Digital Cinema Initiative, aided by the Entertainment Technology Center's Digital Cinema Lab in Los Angeles, created a specification for a standard digital cinema package. Now, approximately one in every three digital theater screens in the United States is equipped for 3-D, according to the report "3-D TV: Where Are We Now and Where Are Consumers," by David Wertheimer, CEO of the Entertainment and Technology Center at the University of Southern California, and Shawn DuBravac, adjunct professor at the George Mason University School of Business.

But it's not just movies that are using 3-D. Broadcasters, video game makers, home theater manufacturers, projector software developers, and even educational content developers have entered the 3-D market as well.

One large player in the 3-D market is Panasonic, which is working with Cameron to help direct Avatar by supplying him with 3-D plasma displays. Panasonic also is developing 3-D-capable TVs, DVD players, and active glasses.