Sony Makes Peripheral That Adds 3D to Laptop Screen

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Sony is releasing an external lenticular screen "peripheral" that adds 3D to non-3D laptops.

During the IFA electronics show in Berlin last week, Sony revealed a 3-mm sheet that was placed over the front side of a standard notebook's screen, providing glasses-free 3D imagery. Additional dedicated software took advantage of the laptop's built-in webcam to determine the user's face and adjusted the 3D images accordingly.

According to reports, the 3D sheet/software bundle will be commercially released alongside the launch of Sony's 15.5-inch VAIO VPCSE1Z9E (S Series) laptop over in Europe next month. This could mean that there's a good chance consumers with other non-Sony 15.5-inch laptops will be able to convert to glasses-free 3D as well.

The 3D sheet reportedly measures just under 15.5-inches and is based on the lenticular method: a parallax is created by arraying lenses that are thin and long and have a semicircular cross section. In this case, the 3D images are created by the software based on the viewer's position. Faces can be detected at a distance of 11.8-inches to 39.3-inches from the display, and at an angle of 60 to 120° to the display horizontally.

So far there's no word when the display peripheral will arrive here in the States, or if Sony plans to develop additional sizes. However, the screen is expected to retail for 129 euro (approx $183 USD) when it goes on sale next month in Europe.

Kevin Parrish
30 Comments Comment from the forums
  • HMRkingpin
    That's pretty fu*king magnificent, If I do say. 3D for everyone!.
    Reply
  • fyasko
    enough with the 3D. am i the only one who doesn't want anything to do with current 3D tech?
    Reply
  • Pyree
    Very very tempting.
    Reply
  • icepick314
    lostmyclanMe too i want my eyes healtly...
    yall DO realize we live in 3D world....

    so far life hasn't gouged my eyeballs.....yet
    Reply
  • jamie_1318
    contrary to most belief 3D doesn't really damage your eyes. Current research shows problems with developing children's brains in understanding 3D images. 3D content does not appear to affect anyone's vision above the age of 5.

    wouldn't you want 3D at all? I can't see it hurting anyone. You have extra data in the same space. It's fantastic (provided it's used right). Have you ever tried 3D gaming? It actually works Really Really well, and improves the immersion by quite a bit. I agree that they are pushing it to much in the theaters, and not in the right way, but it certainly is the future. I just wish that the glasses were standard.
    Reply
  • Zenthar
    The fact is 3D on a screen makes the eye focus on an object that is not really at the distance it is perceived to be. Whether or not this can damage your stereoscopic vision in adults is debatable; for many years people through that stereoscopic visions didn't change after 8-10 years of age, but recent studies tend to prove otherwise. I don't think watching something in 3D once in a while is unhealthy, but I would be careful not to go over 1-2 hours a day as it's usually the amount of time use to correct stereoscopic deficiencies so I guess it could do the opposite just as well.
    Reply
  • palladin9479
    Seeing as I've been using 3D gaming since 2001 (NEC 17 Inch CRT 1024x768 @87hz) and I've yet to have eye issues, I'm fairly certain that there won't be any health risks. What's really happening is people's who are new to "3D" don't know what to do with it. Your trying to focus your eyeballs on something, STOP IT. Relax your eyes, don't try to focus on virtual objects, instead let the 3D engine do the focusing for you. Learn to focus at the screen and not at the visual tricks. It takes getting used to but once your comfortable doing this then it becomes so much more immersive. Games are awesome in 3D, and movies can be too, provided they don't try to go overboard and kill you with it. Thor is a really good movie to show how 3D could be done right, they used it heavily for the backgrounds of the Asguard and some of the special effects.

    Anyhow this seems to be really nice, you can add 3D support to any LCD device, although it'll be half resolution it's still nice.
    Reply
  • Lekko
    Nifty. Hopefully they make it for all screen sizes and systems, and also easily removable so you can take it off and put it back on multiple times.
    Reply
  • the_krasno
    This could also work very well with a desktop monitor, which is doubly awesome!! :D
    Reply
  • drwho1
    icepick314yall DO realize we live in 3D world....so far life hasn't gouged my eyeballs.....yet
    We actually live in 4D but who's counting...
    Reply