As I’ve written here many times I‘m a strong believer in the idea that digital stereoscopic 3D is going to have a profound and positive impact on motion picture production and exhibition. But even I concede that the major reason that some recent 3D movies have flourished has a lot to do with the novelty factor. How else to explain the fact that both Meet the Robinsons and Journey to the Center of the Earth were box office bonanzas? That is why all the excitement that is building around the 25-plus 3D movies that are scheduled for release next year will likely mean very little when Hollywood decides to dump most of them on the market at the same time. And believe me they will. When that happens and 3D movies must compete head to head two things will determine the success of the winners and the failure of the losers. The first of course is if the movie delivers a compelling story told well. The second is promotion. The first is in the hands of the creative community. As for the second – promoting 3D – a company named Alioscopy believes it can provide some help. Alioscopy holds worldwide patents on a technology that delivers an immersive 3D experience—without the aid of glasses or other device—which it says “helps to solidify messaging boost brand recognition and garner immediate and memorable attention.” The open access technology can be applied to an LCD display and adapted to many industries and applications including but not restricted to: media and entertainment mobile communications games laptops kiosks and digital signage. The company’s display product the 3DHD features a highly specialized lenticular lens that boasts in the company’s words “unmatched quality clarity and depth resulting in a truly immersive and memorable experience for the viewer.” Alioscopy also provides custom 3D content development and consultation services. The company is headquartered in Paris France with offices in San Diego and Singapore. The company’s U.S. showrooms are located in San Diego and Los Angeles. It recently opened the company’s first showroom on the East Coast at Worlds Away Productions a full service digital production and live event design facility based in Greenwich Village in New York City. I met there with Pia Maffei Alioscopy’s director of operations and with Kim Lee director and co-founder of Worlds Away for a demonstration of the 3DHD display. I was very impressed with what I saw. Alioscopy’s proprietary lenticular lens is a thin sheet that is laid over the screen of an LCD display unit. In the case of the demo I saw the display was a 40-inch NEC LCD screen. To a certain extent the technology will work with any LCD display. The key is that the RGB pixels on the display must be arranged horizontally. Technicians place the lenticular lens across the display and by hand precisely match the pixels on the display with the pixels on the lens. The manufacturing process is understandably relatively slow. Maffei says a single technician working alone can make five or more units a day. She says the manufacturing process is getting faster and also that Alioscopy plans to add technicians as demand increases. Maffei showed me CGI images live action images and still images. The NEC display had a 40-inch screen. We were in a fairly small room with large windows and some lights on and I wasn’t wearing glasses and the 3D images were compelling. There are sweet spots where the effect was terrific and other spots where it was less so but at all times it was a nice image. The point is that even at its worst the system did nothing to hurt the image. And after 30 minutes I had no hint of eyestrain. The 40-inch 3DHD is currently priced around $14 000 the 24-inch around $4 000. Alioscopy is actively seeking specialized partner relationships and business licensing agreements with manufacturers and OEM’s and is also focused on building a strong network of 3D software specialists to aid in training customers and developing the very best 3D content. In her demonstration Maffei likes to highlight Alioscopy’s key areas of interest what she calls the three Ps: previsualization production post-production and promotion. Promotion is one area in particular where she believes Alioscopy has a natural connection to digital cinema especially the promotion of 3D. Her dream is to fill theatre lobbies around the world with Alioscopy 3DHD units where trailers of the latest 3D movie will screen as loops and patrons can share in the excitement without the need for glasses. Alioscopy www.alioscopyusa.com
