The first practical 3-D video gaming system developed by Nvidia to work with existing PC titles has gone on sale. The new kit is affordable, easy to set up and will work with dozens of existing PC titles and play on an off-the-shelf computer monitor.

The 3D Vision kit comprises a pair of glasses, an infrared transmitter and a software CD. You’ll also need a compatible graphics card in your computer — but the new system works with many of Nvidia’s existing cards. The only other requirement is a 120Hz monitor to simulate stereoscopic 3-D.

How it works

The system works by taking the 2-D visual information being generated by the game software, reinterpreting it into three dimensions, then instructing the graphics card to split the image into two. One image is intended to be seen by the left eye, one by the right; the positional difference between the two produces the 3-D effect.
Both images are displayed on a single monitor, which flashes them alternately 120 times a second. The infrared transmitter co-ordinates those flashes with the opening and closing of shutters in the left and right lenses of the supplied glasses, meaning that each eye is fed its own visual stream.

The technology

The technology promises to usher in a new age of gaming because, unlike earlier prototypes, it adds so much more than the shock effect of seeing objects springing out of the screen. The system is more akin to the new generation of 3-D computer-animated films — such as Up, which opened the Cannes film festival — where 3-D is integral to the storytelling. Similarly, the application of the effect on the clean lines of digital graphics rather than old-fashioned film makes it far more effective than early 3-D movies, not to mention easier on the eyes.

 
Because the Nvidia hardware constructs a 3-D scene from existing information built into PC games, hundreds of titles will immediately benefit. The company lists more than 200 it claims play with “excellent” quality, including classic games such as Tomb Raider.

 
Console gamers might have to wait longer for their 3-D fix, but Sony was demonstrating 3-D versions of a number of PlayStation 3 titles earlier this year. Nvidia has proved that the required hardware does not have to cost the earth, nor do games have to be substantially rewritten.
The future of gaming is here and it is in three dimensions.

Key facts:

• 1851 A “stereoscopic” photo of Queen Victoria is displayed at the Great Exhibition in London
• 1915 The first 3-D film is shown in New York, incorporating shots of Niagara Falls and oriental dancers. The audience wore glasses with coloured lenses
• 1952 The first colour 3-D feature film, Bwana Devil, released
• 1997 The US sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun airs a 3-D episode. The effect could be seen by covering or shading one eye
• 2008 Philips unveils a 56in 3-D HD TV
• 2009 The director and games producer Steven Spielberg predicts that 2-D gaming will “go the way of the dodo”
• December 2009 The most expensive 3-D film ever, the $200m Avatar, is set for release through cinemas. Special glasses will still be required

Adapted from: The Sunday Times, May 24 2009