Meant to be Seen has announced the preliminary results of the U-Decide Initiative an ongoing study of what customers think of 3D entertainment technologies and why. Made possible with the assistance of AMD iZ3D Blitz Games Studios The Game Creators and Guild Software U-Decide has become a credible determination of what customers think of 3D entertainment with hopes of dispelling the leading myths and assumptions about the technology. While the study is skewed to the game community it does offer some interesting insights about 3D in general. The U-Decide Initiative was designed to capture customer opinions in two separate online surveys. One was for traditional gamers who don’t yet own 3D equipment and the other was for experienced stereoscopic 3D gamers and consumers. Each respondent was required to answer 26 multipart questions. “3D is often judged before being seen. We wanted to learn how far apart the opinions were of traditional 2D and experienced 3D customers so our industry can have a reasonable measure of where we are and how far we can go. Currently the number of completed surveys is nearly equal between the customer types and this makes the data invaluable ” says Neil Schneider president and CEO of Meant to be Seen. Information learned from 2D and 3D customers include 3D hardware quality expectations perceived deterrents to 3D technology motivators or messages that connect with customers at a marketing level brand awareness for leading products and companies gaming performance expectations depending on game type and much more. The first finding is that only a minority of 2D customers thinks that 3D is tacky or uncomfortable. Nearly 26 percent of respondents think 3D is a “must have” technology and over 65 percent find it “intriguing”. Less than four percent think 3D is “tacky” and just over five percent think 3D “sounds uncomfortable.” For inexperienced 2D and existing 3D customers wearing comfortable 3D glasses is an insignificant barrier to the technology for some types of content. Only 12 percent of 2D customers object to 3D glasses for video games while this climbs to almost 30 percent for 3D broadcast television. Experienced 3D customers are more forgiving with a three percent objection level for video games and 12percent for broadcast television. Blu-ray movies fall in-between with 16 percent glasses objection for 2D and 4percent for experienced 3D customers. All respondents are nearly unanimous about one market. Stereoscopic 3D is most suitable for video games with an 87 percent suitability rating by 2D and nearly 97 percent rating by experienced 3D gamers. Despite not yet owning the technology 93 percent of 2D customers want game developers to officially support true 3D in their games and this climbs to 99 percent amongst 3D gamers. “The customers have spoken and it is clear that game developers have a real consumer need that requires answering. These findings will help them get it right the first time ” says Schneider. “Success in the at-home 3D cinema and content markets is going to be more selective and this new data will help ensure that 3D efforts tie in with customer demand for the best sales results.” The findings are still considered preliminary and the surveys will remain open until January 1st 2009. Participating respondents will qualify for a draw to win one of nearly 60 prizes including iZ3D 3D monitors ATI GPUs and a wide selection of video games by Blitz Games Studios The Game Creators and Guild Software. Gamers of all experience levels are encouraged to participate at http://www.mtbs3d.com/udecide.shtml. Preliminary graphics charts are available for download from mtbs3D.com in the U-DECIDE sub-menu and the complete report is expected to be available for purchase in January 2009. Committed MTBS partners and qualified game developers who accept complementary MTBS Certification can get the report for free. Meant to be Seen www.mtbs3d.com
