The 3D Experience Expands Aggressively onto the Homefront

Fans of three dimensional flicks rejoice, the immersive experience is headed towards home television. Satellite-TV operator British Sky Broadcasting is taking steps to launch an entirely 3D channel in the U.K. sometime next year. It will be the largest push for three dimensional television yet with the company brainstorming content ideas beyond pure “gimmicks.”

Price will initially remain a hurdle for the technology to become widely adopted. To view Sky’s content, expensive 3D ready television sets are necessary. The cost of the subscription service itself has not yet been specified.

3D television shows are nothing new. Ever since NBC’s 1989 Super Bowl halftime show, “Bebop Bamboozled,” the medium has been flirting with the technology. What powers today’s hype machine is increasingly stable production technology and studios’ desire to retain viewers’ attention.

Where there is video there is 3D. Upcoming films using the blue and red glasses as a selling point are Toy Story 3D, Avatar, and X Games 3D. The last Superbowl marked the first 3D ad event with placements for Sobe alongside ‘Monsters and Aliens.’ Interactivity is being included in Asteroid Storm, a 3D game where audiences will steer a spaceship with their hands.

The third dimension isn’t only accessible with a large budget. We recently covered YouTube’s support, now anyone can setup and record with a webcam. Maybe its time designer brand Ray-Ban put out a pair of slick 3D glasses, oh wait, they already have.

[via wsj]

Related on PSFK:

• YouTube Adds Support for 3D Videos
• 3D Movies Slowly but Surely Making a Comeback