'The world of 3D is realistic and engaging'

BANGALORE, INDIA: Third dimension technology is going to be a de-facto element in the near future as it provides more immersive and persuasive consumer content experience, said Sudhir Dixit, director, HP Labs India.

He was addressing a session on '3D- The holy grail of immersive experiences' at EmTech India 2011 here on Wednesday.

Speaking about the three-dimensional immersive spaces, he said, “Immersive spaces are those provided by virtual worlds which give unparalleled opportunities for learners to practically engage with simulated authentic settings that may be too expensive or too dangerous to experience in the real world.”

He also added that there is a growing interest in developing immersive and engaging experiences for the end-user through fusing some of the coolest technologies such as speech, touch, vision and hearing. The user experience is vital to any technology and 3D is on its path of success.

3D experience: The immersive way

Immersive experience is an awareness of physically, self-diminished state or a loss of being engaged in an all-engrossing environment with severely diminished sense of time and intense focus. Immersive experience environment is a virtual reality, which creates a stimulated and evoking emotional responses, thus introducing new ideas in fresh and exciting ways.

Sudhir showcased a comparative study on the usages of electronic devices from the past to the present and said it is made up of device, connectivity, cloud, software, applications, content and user interface.

“The world of 3D is more realistic and more engaging. It makes complicated scenes easier to understand and so people pay for it,” Sudhir added. “The 3D technology faces some major challenges, including huge amount of data explosion, high expenses and limited content availability.”

He added that the 3D industry is giving more attention to bringing this experience into the home environment and further to the mobile device realm.

3D makes learning flexible

According to him, the ability of virtual 3D spaces are made to be more interactive in terms of tactile precision, natural movement, and the 'haptic' feedback confers a substantial educational benefit and makes learning experiences flexible in terms of time, place and opportunity.

The ability to conceptualize 3D shapes is enhanced by the use of haptic technology, making it easier to learn about objects that could not be touched ordinarily or walked around because of substantial risks in real-life settings.

He concluded that even though the challenges to develop 3D technologies and applications are significant, it is anticipated that, given time and resources, considerable advances would be made on all fronts.