Spielberg Patenting 3D Movie Technology Without Need For Special Glasses

[matcom]

<snip>

STEVEN Spielberg, the most influential visionary in US films, is involved in patenting what Hollywood has been dreaming of for decades - three-dimensional movies that can be viewed without using special glasses.

Spielberg, who pioneered the blockbuster with Jaws and computerised special effects with Jurassic Park, believes the technology for plain-view 3-D films has finally arrived.

In an interview with a Hollywood trade magazine, he let slip that he was involved in patenting a system that puts the viewer into the film - "inside the experience, which will surround you top, bottom, on all sides".

If the technology wins acceptance, it will revolutionise cinemas, forcing them to tear out their traditional screens and replace them with giant plasma screens specially adapted to project Spielberg's 3-D images.

This could revitalise the film industry, which is faced with declining audiences and fierce competition from rival mediums such as advanced video games.

But there is one big question: will it work? Filmmakers have been experimenting with 3-D since 1903, and there have been a succession of over-optimistic claims that it is about to become a mainstream technology.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16937824-13762,00.html

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. I wonder when they will realize that the declinin audiences may have

something to do with having to take out a second mortgage to purchase a ticket? :shrug:

[ghostsofgiants]

3. That, and the fact that most movies suck

[HughBeaumont]

4. Yeah, I think it's more product than price.

Although movies are costly, it seems easier and cheaper overall (after snacks are factored in) to just wait for it to come out on DVD. I mean, there are very few "must sees" anymore. It's either remakes or pastiches of old movies. With an original idea, the average movie-goer is lost in 10 minutes.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. Nope, for me, it's price. I don't care how much I want to see a movie...

The price usually keeps me away. I've seen one movie in 2005, at a reduced rate. for most average people it's price.

Perhaps it's quality for you movie snobs....:P

[Deja Q]

2. Man, I wish I had the money to invest in this form of depraved gambling.

Even then, the patent system is disgusting - and these days it's downright depraved because of how it is abused.

So, folks, don't do the real work to make this a reality. Stevie will hunt you down and say it's his.

[Love Bug]

6. God, I hope so

I took my grandson to see Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D and I got a headache after about 20 minutes from the damn 3-D glasses. After a while I just took the glasses off and zoned out.

He liked the movie, 'tho.