I have to admit, I’m always a bit skeptical about 3D. But then, whenever I see something in 3D I get a bit caught by the sense of wonder the technique can inspire — the way it draws you into the image and makes you forget the world around you. So the below examples of 3D on the iPhone may not be perfect, or, even interactive, but they’re still cool because they suggest fun future opportunities.
I think the coolest is Palm Top Theater. It’s basically just a set of mirrors that you snap onto your iPhone. Using a technique called pepper’s ghost, you get three layered visual planes. Right now it’s just a demo which uses video content. But an interactive app would be great to see next. (Link via CreativeApplications.net.)
iHologram is a project by animator David O’Reilly. It’s more of a demo/hack than a real application, but it gives a realistic feeling of a holographic projection coming from the iPhone, when viewed from the correct angle. It’s a neat illusion.
It was actually the announcement of Hasbro’s My3D that got me started on this post. It’s basically a ViewMaster-like attachment for the iPhone that let’s you see content in stereo. Unfortunately there hasn’t been any information posted on the apps that will be available for the device. And, unlike Palm Top Theater, which lets you change your view angle, looking into the my3D viewfinder gives you just a single view. But stay tuned… let’s see what they do with the platform.
