Apple patent solves glasses-less 3D

Apple has been granted a patent on glasses-less 3D technology that claims to vault some of the biggest hurdles of glasses-less 3D viewing. The patent means more than one person can watch in 3D, in different locations, and from different angles, without losing the quality or 3D pop of the screen.

The Apple glasses-less 3D patent is called “Three dimensional display system”, it’s an autostereoscopic (which means glasses-less 3D) display, which uses “a projection screen having a predetermined angularly-responsive reflective surface function”. This means, in plain English, that the viewers position is tracked by a sensor, and the reflection angle of the 3D projection is altered for their position.

Here’s a diagram that may (or may not) shed light on the idea.

There’s lots of work going on in 3D glasses-less tech, or “autostereoscopic displays” to give them their formal title. In the last six months we’ve seen the Sony research project that’s currently on display at the British Library, incoming TV screens from Toshiba and Sony, and of course the Nintendo 3DS, which will be one of the first glasses-less 3D devices to make its way to the UK.

What do you think if the Apple patent? Itching for 3D Apple TV already? Tell us what you think in the comments!

[via The Register]

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