Acer shows stereoscopic 3D screen technology for laptops

Acer showed a stereoscopic 3D screen technique during the Next @ Acer event that should appear in future laptops. The company focuses on creative professional professions with this technique and opened a beta program for developers.

The position of the eyes and the viewing direction are registered on the basis of two cameras in the bezel of the laptop. Two separate images of the same 2D object are then displayed using a lens placed on top of the LCD screen: one for the left eye and one for the right eye. This creates a stereoscopic 3D effect for the single user looking at the display.

Using accompanying software, SpatialLabs Experience Center, users can move the projected images on both the x, y and z axes and manipulate them in real time. Acer focuses with this technique on creative professional professions that, according to the company, can achieve speed gains through this screen technique. The company mentions that add-ons have been developed that support files from popular rendering programs such as Blender and Autocad.

Spatiallabs also supports the Unreal Engine. The company has announced a beta program where it will loan developers a first prototype of a ConcepD laptop free of charge for three months to develop 3d applications using the Unreal Engine. Developers do give permission to Acer through their participation to use their creations as a demo for one year. It is not yet clear when the first laptop with this technology will be shipped on board.