What is a 3d viewer and what is it for?
More and more often we hear about Virtual Reality and 3D viewers, two new technologies that are going crazy on the video game market, but not only: learning and education, architecture, art, design and construction use these technologies to allow greater interaction by foreseeing actions on 3D projects in a simple, instantaneous and high visual impact way compared to the use of traditional graphics software.
3D viewers: functioning, costs and uses of new technologies destined to conquer the market
The 3D viewer to be placed on the eyes allows us to obscure the surrounding reality and literally transport us into a new virtual reality, thanks to the possibility of replication of movements performed by a person in a real environment, in the digital one. This means that when we raise an arm in reality, our virtual avatar will be able to reproduce the movement allowing us to perform an action in “Virtual Reality” (Virtual Reality). This technology is therefore one of the ways to immerse ourselves in the Metaverse that we hear so much among the current affairs, a very controversial topic that is criticized, idealized and that would seem to have big plans for Web users.
But how does a 3D viewer work?
It is a stereoscopic displaythat is, which generates a three-dimensional vision thanks to the exploitation of binocular vision technology, which is already the typical way of vision of human beings and some animals.
There binocular vision it is that type of vision which consists in the creation of two separate images in both visual channels (left and right) to then have a single and clear image assembled by our brain. This technology is actually anything but new, but it was already used in the past with the nineteenth-century stereoscopic boxes and later with the first 3D glasses for watching movies in cinemas.
Obviously imagine which sector will be the one that will make the most use of this new technology… we are talking about video game market Obviously!
This sector is the one of main use of 3D technologies, such as viewers for virtual reality or augmented reality.
To date it is already possible to play some games using 3D viewers, such as some games for the Play Station such as “The Room Vr: a Dark Matter” or “paper beasts” due out in March 2023. These are just two newly released titles and for Play Station 5 only, but it is estimated that we may use this technology in the future for every online and console game. The viewer then allows you to transform some video games into 3D that are not basically 3D as in the case of live casinos or those of the most popular consoles, to allow an enveloping experience and allow the user to choose whether to play in the traditional way or with a 3D viewer.
Possible scenarios of virtual reality
In the present world, often made up of paradoxes, the Metaverse is considered by some to be a way to escape reality through the use of these viewers, which would allow us to literally escape and live in the utopia of a video game or a perfect world, having fun, distracting ourselves.
We all know the famous trilogy of the film “The Matrix”, perhaps one of the first Hollywood films to have dealt with this theme in an articulated way.
There are many criticisms of this “utopian” thought and often local initiatives are promoted to make the younger ones understand, through art and literature, what are the boundaries between utopia and dystopia (in this case technological).
There are also many authors who deal today with topics such as: parallel universes, dystonias and possible future (and futuristic) scenarios, such as Ezio Albrile, essayist and profound connoisseur of topics such as science and religion.
Obviously, as mentioned in the introduction to this article, not only does the video game field already use 3D viewers, but also the education field, in the field of media education, that is, that branch of education aimed at the interaction and understanding of technology by young people and the very young. The field of medicine will still benefit from 3D viewers, thanks to the use of these technologies for simulate surgery.
An increasingly technological world, therefore, in which the man-machine contact will be stronger enough to create real bonds, to a greater extent than the bonds between person and person.
Costs of 3D viewers and types
Now let’s see some costs and types of viewers on the market.
First of all it is important to distinguish between viewers for the augmented reality (Augmented Reality / AR) and headsets for Virtual Reality (VR). In fact, the two terms are not synonymous, but reflect two different ways of perceiving information.
Augmented reality headsets are headsets that increase the information available for the surrounding reality. A trivial but clear example is that of Google maps, in which we find additional information in addition to what we can see, as we proceed on an itinerary: just think of warnings on speed detectors, control signals of traffic light violations, additional information on venues, street names, etc.
VR viewers are instead viewers designed to create an alternative world that can be a Metaverse or a video game and manage to make our movements replicate our virtual / game avatar.
Headset prices may vary from 40 euros up to even a thousand euros depending on usage specifications such as viewing angles, sharpness, the functions they are intended to perform (3D graphics functions rather than gaming functions).
Then there are viewers compatible with mobile devices and smartphones, these are the cheapest ones that allow you to insert the phone into the viewer, open the app you are interested in and that’s it!