New 3D devices that don’t require the user to wear those clunky glasses are about to hit the market, and their backers are hoping they’ll make 3D eyewear as obsolete as smell-o-vision.
Described as ‘autostereo’, new spec-free 3D televisions are already in stores in Japan, and Nintendo’s 3DS handheld games console will be available from the end of this month.
Electronic industry analysts say the demand for 3D without glasses will be driven by gaming as the technology is most suitable for smaller, hand-held devices, but it could soon be available in cameras, mobile phones, and tablet computers as well.
Market research in the U.S. suggests one-fifth of gamers complain of eyestrain after playing conventional 3D devices, while more than half of people say that having to wear glasses would discourage them from upgrading to 3D altogether.
