3D comes home

Where TVs are more social in nature, computers are almost always used by individuals. For that very reason, 3D applications will go beyond merely watching videos. Already, game developers are building 3D into their engines and environments. Beyond that, YouTube is experimenting with 3D videos and even Google has decided to add native rendering functionality to the Chrome browser. There isn’t much public buzz about things other than gaming, but soon enough, graphics designers will finally manipulate their 3D models in 3D space, architects will take clients on first-person walkthroughs of their sketches, online shops will let people browse through racks of items, and dozens of new uses will emerge.

Gaming is where things can get very interesting. Both on the PC and on living room consoles, gaming is a single-minded activity in which immersiveness is the end goal. As opposed to TV and movies which are fairly social in nature, people usually game alone and undisturbed. First-person shooters which are truly first person, racing games in which the environment whizzes past, and even sports simulators will see immediate benefits from 3D. Less action-oriented games like The Sims and Spore will suck players in and give them all kinds of new thrills. Just like movies, games developed with 3D in mind will become the flag bearers of this new technology. Truly excellent games will even motivate people to spend on new consoles and TV sets, and passionate gamers are well known to spend large amounts of money at regular intervals to stay current with the latest, greatest hardware.