I spoke with my neighborhood stereoscopy expert (30-years of experience, custom-built camera rig, home-theater setup with polarized projectors, etc.) and learned quite a bit about 3D imagery. Thought I'd share some general facts and other factors that cause eye strain and headaches.
Regarding images that pop out: already proven possible with the screen technology. But will the phone's camera be able to capture a subject and then show it popping out? Most likely, but not guaranteed.
In another thread, I incorrectly concluded that the focal point determines the threshold where things pop out or appear behind the screen. Actually that threshold is fixed based on the distance between the lens and the offset of the sensors behind the lenses. I have no visibility into how the E3D's sensors are set, so there's no way to guess what the zero parallax line lies. However, once the phone is released, it will be trivial to determine this by taking a picture of a ruler (or tape measure) that extends from the camera. If you overlay the stereo images in photoshop, the ruler will appear as a thin X. Where the convergence of the X is on the ruler will be the zero parallax line (aka point of convergence).
Objects farther from zero parallax will appear behind the display; objects closer will appear to pop out from the screen.
This article makes it really simple to understand:
STEREOSCOPIC (3D) FILMMAKING OVERVIEW Part 2
Commonly, the distance between cameras (aka the stereo base) is set to the human interocular distance (distance between human eyes), which is about 2.5". But there's no real reason why this needs to be enforced; it really depends on the scale of your subject. If you're taking a picture of insects, your camera lenses should be much closer together. If you're taking a picture of the grand canyon, the cameras should be very far apart. Again, that article above talks about why you may want to use cameras that are further apart. But a moot point for E3D since we can't adjust the cameras. But given that the Evo's cameras are kinda close together, the best 3D shots will be with subjects closer to the screen.
Onto the discomfort.
My source tells me that pop-out is actually not very desirable for two reasons:
1) it causes eye strain due to the need to focus on a point close to the eyes (cross-eye). Prolonged cross-eye is not comfortable.
2) when a pop-out object is cropped by the edge of the screen, our brain freaks out because it conflicts with reality. The object should appear in front of the edge and not be cut off. This is considered a violation of good stereoscopy and should be avoided.
Another violation is an exaggeration of depth where the distance between stereo images exceeds the interocular distance. This isn't going to be a problem with the Evo 3D's images, but this is much more common in a theater. Film producers sometimes push the limit to try to give the scene maximum depth by spacing out the parallax images. This can trigger instant headaches. Also if you sit too close to the screen, the problem becomes amplified.
He rattled off a few more violations that I can't recall, but basically he says that the violations are what make 3D gimmicky, and it's also responsible for the discomfort and inability to see in 3D for some subset of the public. When the rules of stereoscopy are obeyed, the results are spectacular and comfortable to view, because they simulate depth realistically.
Just sharing for those of you actually interested in the 3D capabilities of the phone.
Regarding images that pop out: already proven possible with the screen technology. But will the phone's camera be able to capture a subject and then show it popping out? Most likely, but not guaranteed.
In another thread, I incorrectly concluded that the focal point determines the threshold where things pop out or appear behind the screen. Actually that threshold is fixed based on the distance between the lens and the offset of the sensors behind the lenses. I have no visibility into how the E3D's sensors are set, so there's no way to guess what the zero parallax line lies. However, once the phone is released, it will be trivial to determine this by taking a picture of a ruler (or tape measure) that extends from the camera. If you overlay the stereo images in photoshop, the ruler will appear as a thin X. Where the convergence of the X is on the ruler will be the zero parallax line (aka point of convergence).
Objects farther from zero parallax will appear behind the display; objects closer will appear to pop out from the screen.
This article makes it really simple to understand:
STEREOSCOPIC (3D) FILMMAKING OVERVIEW Part 2
Commonly, the distance between cameras (aka the stereo base) is set to the human interocular distance (distance between human eyes), which is about 2.5". But there's no real reason why this needs to be enforced; it really depends on the scale of your subject. If you're taking a picture of insects, your camera lenses should be much closer together. If you're taking a picture of the grand canyon, the cameras should be very far apart. Again, that article above talks about why you may want to use cameras that are further apart. But a moot point for E3D since we can't adjust the cameras. But given that the Evo's cameras are kinda close together, the best 3D shots will be with subjects closer to the screen.
Onto the discomfort.
My source tells me that pop-out is actually not very desirable for two reasons:
1) it causes eye strain due to the need to focus on a point close to the eyes (cross-eye). Prolonged cross-eye is not comfortable.
2) when a pop-out object is cropped by the edge of the screen, our brain freaks out because it conflicts with reality. The object should appear in front of the edge and not be cut off. This is considered a violation of good stereoscopy and should be avoided.
Another violation is an exaggeration of depth where the distance between stereo images exceeds the interocular distance. This isn't going to be a problem with the Evo 3D's images, but this is much more common in a theater. Film producers sometimes push the limit to try to give the scene maximum depth by spacing out the parallax images. This can trigger instant headaches. Also if you sit too close to the screen, the problem becomes amplified.
He rattled off a few more violations that I can't recall, but basically he says that the violations are what make 3D gimmicky, and it's also responsible for the discomfort and inability to see in 3D for some subset of the public. When the rules of stereoscopy are obeyed, the results are spectacular and comfortable to view, because they simulate depth realistically.
Just sharing for those of you actually interested in the 3D capabilities of the phone.
