Games to "drive investment" in glasses-free 3D - Cameron
Director praises influence of glass-free devices and considers Avatar MMO
Avatar director James Cameron has welcomed the influence of video games on the 3D device market, arguing that they will drive investment in autostereoscopic displays.
Speaking at the NAB 2011 conference in Las Vegas, as reported by website Yahoo! Games, Cameron stated that, "video games are going to help propel the autostereoscopic [glasses free] play because that's going to be the entry level for most people."
"These single-viewing devices that are engaging the person to play these video games will drive a lot of investment in autostereoscopic displays for that very reason. That technology will trickle up to the larger 3D displays that will be used for home viewing and gaming," he said.
It is not clear whether Cameron mentioned the 3DS by name, although it is currently the only dedicated games console with an autostereoscopic display. Smartphones such as the LG Optimus 3D and certain high-end televisions also use similar technology.
Although Cameron is a self-professed video games fan he has had little direct involvement in the industry. However, he did appear at E3 to promote Ubisoft's Avatar tie-in, which involved a collaboration with his special effects studio Digital Domain, and is a regular attendee at the expo.
Cameron is also on the board of directors for interactive marketing firm Mulitverse, which provides technology for massively multiplayer online games such as Dark Horizons: The Awakening, LunarQuest and Islands of War.
"I'd love to do an MMORPG experience inside the Avatar universe and I would like to see it authored in 3D," said Cameron. "I'd like to see people doing gameplay in 3D, so that's something that we're looking to do. But we're not active on that yet."
"One of the big barriers to 3D right now is that you have to wear glasses in the home," added Cameron.
"Home viewing is very different than movie theatre viewing. I don't think we'll ever get rid of the glasses in movie theatres. Not in my lifetime, anyway, but we're going to get rid of them at home because it's a different viewing model type... It's not the same very-dedicated sort of consciousness that you have in a movie theatre, so getting rid of the glasses will be a big deal."