The first experience I can remember of 3D entertainment was when Juni and Carmen Cortez decided they wanted to be spies just like their parents.
Equipped with my one red, one blue lensed glasses, a top of my regular seeing eyeglasses, a box of salt and vinegar popcorn and a cherry slushie, I was ready for my whole world to change.
Of course, I was blown away. It was amazing to see hands, gadgets, and effects effectively pop out of the screen towards me. The whole thing grew into a bit of a shlep, though. Slowly, the wow factor wore off the more I had to try to balance glasses on top of other glasses. Plus, I always left with a headache.
The technology evolved, and the glasses got better. I, too, upgraded to contact lenses, and it did get a lot easier to try and enjoy the 3D entertainment on offer, but it still always meant I had to wear something to watch it. Now, in the third decade of the 21st century, this technology has taken another step further.
Spatial Labs has teamed up with Acer to bring 3D to our homes in the form of laptop screens and desktop monitors, and the best part is that no other peripherals are required.
Here at NAG, we were lucky enough to have one of Acer’s premium Spatial Labs laptops dropped off for us to play around with, featuring the latest in their 3D technology: 3D Ultra.
The underlying technology combines eye-tracking cameras, stereoscopic 3D display and real-time scene rendering technologies to create three-dimensional content, and not just any three-dimensional content, absolutely breathtaking three-dimensional content.
We opted to do most of our testing using Days Gone. The game boasts impressive scenery, and a whole lot of action. Perfect for adding a little bit of extra immersion.
I can guarantee there’s no soul out there that will boot up a game using this 3D Ultra technology and not be blown away by the effect. It feels as if a portal into the game world has opened up before you, and you just want to dive right in.
The scenery in the distance feels distant, and objects and environments up close feel behind you. Deacon was perfectly placed in the center of it all, and the world felt like it moved around him. Even the subtitles and menus pop out just right.
The older, less process intensive technology, 3D Plus, would split the different objects and environments in the game and spread them over a distance, displaying them as almost 2D objects on a 3D plane. 3D Ultra uses multi-camera technology where each object is now in 3D, and still spread across the same plane. This 3D aspect of each objects gives more depth and a greater 3D experience.
3D Ultra truly immerses you deeper into the game in front of you, more so than other technologies like haptic feedback could ever do, but it’s not quite perfect just yet.
The eye-tracking technology means that you only experience the effect if you are situated directly in front of the screen. People watching over your shoulder will see a similar effect to those 3D tazo’s that just aren’t quite showing off the right image. Even if you, who are sitting in front of the screen, have to move your head too quickly, the effect gets distorted.
Playing a game in full 3D Ultra mode also proves to be quite strenuous on the eyes. As I said before, I always left the theatre with a bit of a headache, and even at just 45-minute stints of playing, I could feel the muscles in my eyes and head starting to ache.
Aside from gaming, the Spatial Labs technology also offers a few other apps for you to use.
Spatial Labs Go allows you to view usual 2D videos and images in 3D, and it converts it pretty well. I wasn’t able to pick up on anything that looked off, or AI generated. The Spatial Labs Player app will create 3D footage from two stereoscopic images. The Spatial Labs Model Viewer will allow you to view 3D images in, well, 3D, obviously. But with an added depth that will almost make you want to reach in and grab the object, straight from out of the screen.
Throughout our time with this amazing tech, even though I was only able to play games for a short period, I kept finding myself logging back in just to enjoy the experience as much as I could. Spatial Labs and Acer have definitely got something awesome here and you’d be silly not to keep your eye on what they bring out next.