Disqus
There seems to be a growing buzz in the media industry generally right now about 3D – how good it is, the fact that consumers are bound to want it, and crucially, how to do it. Interestingly though, Mobile may be very well set up to handle 3D and potentially even take the lead over it’s progress in Home Consumer Electronics Devices – let’s consider a few key points:
- You (mostly) need glasses for 3D – in order to get one eye to see something different than the other (and hence create anything more than a flat image), it’s commonly accepted you need some kind of viewing glasses. The way the glasses achieve the result can be variable, but unless you get a (currently) very expensive (and limited) 3D TV set, then glasses are where it’s at. But Mobile is already moving in this direction, what with the proliferation of “video eyewear” companies out there (notably Vuzix, who we’ve covered before at IntoMobile, here and here for example). Mobile screens are really too small for prolonged viewing, so if you can utilise the video-out on your device (now on an increasing amount of devices), you can plug in some video eyewear, and get your video fix – and why not make it 3D!
- Content delivery is a consideration for 3D – bandwidth on any delivery medium, be it broadcast, Internet, or Mobile, is always a consideration – and with 3D, more information is being sent per second (i.e. the bitrate is higher) – and hence more bandwidth is needed. Well for Mobile, the issue of bandwidth is a decreasing one, unlike with both broadcast and (fixed-line) Internet access. In Mobile, we’ve done WiFi chips in handsets, and we’ve done broadband modems (dongles) – so we know we can get decent bandwidth for mobile video. Remember that Mobile video is for a smaller screen and hence requires (much) less bandwidth, and suddenly you can deliver the data needed for 3D video with increasing ease as time goes on. Mobiles have never been so connected, so lets leverage the wider pipe that is now available!
- Content - you gotta have good content for it to be successful – nowhere is this more true than on Mobile devices – if the content ain’t good, people will not buy it. Hollywood is busy now creating more and more content that is in 3D at source – and they have a valid and sustainable channel with Mobile to try it out. I think 3D has a real home in the Mobile channel, and (great) content is one of the key pillars to it’s introduction
The one current barrier is the potential number of ways to create the 3D effect, as I alluded to above– right now there are probably 3 or 4, ranging from basic to more advanced – however, if this doesn’t reach some degree of standardisation, we are going to be stuck with a range of systems, and fragmented content / hardware. Let’s not have another Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD battle please, and get with a single standard.
Overall, the future of 3D is looking rosy, we just need to sort out a few niggles, and I believe Mobile could (and should) lead the charge in to a new era of immersive and innovative user experiences!
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
