Okay, Avatar rocked the world with 3D. A technology which has existed for decades is now finally getting some legs. Immediately after Avatar, 3D film producers worked to develop the next batch of billion dollar revenue 3D. 3D gaming immediately followed. Video projector and flat-panel manufacturer then all scrambled to produce a product for the home, where movies on 3D Blu-Ray DVD’s could be viewed.
First out of the gate producing 3D flat panels include:
· Panasonic
· Philips
· Samsung
· Sharp
· Sony
· Toshiba
Infocomm International has joined the movement with over 20 3D seminars come this June in Las Vegas. Their focus will be to bring 3D exposure into the professional AV market.
There will be a special 3D pavilion including firms such as:
· 3D@Home
· 3DIDA
· 3DTV
· Alioscopy
· Barco
· Christie
· Holografika
· Lightspeed Design
· NEC
· Ocean Thin Films
· Optoma
But where will this lead to in the professional AV / corporate market? Good question.
Certainly Advertising Agencies will develop 3D commercials as the home theatre / TV market expands. We might also see some over the top internal or client presentations include 3D, where 3D content would enhance the visual message. But will we see 3D PowerPoint presentations? Probably. 3D PowerPoint templates and a plug-in are already available however I don’t see it likely we will be passing out 3D glasses at the next board meeting. I expect when the technology for 3D without glasses develops further, we will likely see more acceptance for presentations in the corporate workplace.
Videoconferencing and Telepresence Suites are key areas where 3D would be embraced. Telepresence is still just 2D and to create a true “virtual” presence we need 3D to provide the depth of field presently lacking. (Cisco and Polycom: are you listening?)
What’s this mean to the corporate AV specialist? Keep your heads up and watch how this technology evolves. Expect your boss or some other senior executive to tell you they have 3D in their house and “When are we going to get it in our conference rooms?” 3D will have an impact on AV room layouts, AV system designs, content creation, media distribution, display and ultimately the presentation or videoconference environment.
Plenty to keep us busy — coming soon to a theater near you, in 3D of course.
Christopher Maione, CTS-D, is president of Christopher Maione Associates, a firm specializing in all aspects of AV business, technologies, and marketing strategy. He also serves as an Infocomm Adjunct Faculty member and frequent speaker at global AV industry events. Reach him at cmaione@chrismaione.com.
