DDD rides 3D wave

IMAGINE watching a movie where the characters and images in the frame appear to move around in mid air, almost independently of the screen.

While 3D television may seem a thing of the future, this technology is already available thanks to the pioneering work of Technology Park-based company Dynamic Digital Depth.

Moves to bring the technology to the retail consumer market took a giant step forward last month when Dynamic Digital Depth signed deals with electronics giant Sharp Systems of America and US-based digital studio nWave Pictures.

Until now the technology has been available only on big LED and plasma screens for corporate customers and at entertainment or tradeshow events.

Dynamic Digital Depth, or DDD as it is known, has broken major new ground in the field of 3D technology with the development of software that allows a viewer to view 3D movies without the need to wear special 3D glasses.

Under the reseller deal it signed with Sharp, DDD will market Sharp’s Actius RD3D – a notebook that can switch between a 2D and 3D display without the aid of special glasses.

Under the terms of the deal, DDD’s TriDef™ Movie Player, Photo Viewer and Visualizer software products would be pre installed on the 3D notebook as part of Sharp’s 3D multimedia bundle.

DDD’s TriDef Photo Transformer technology would be available for purchase at extra cost to allow users to convert their own 2D images to 3D.

Costing around $US3,300 per notebook, the Actius RD3D is initially aimed at business with high-tech visualisation requirements such as pharmaceutical companies, product designers and the oil and gas industry.

However, first retail sales to the public in the US are expected by mid next year, according to DDD CEO Chris Yewdall.

A consecutive three-year deal with nWave pictures also was struck, allowing DDD to publish nWave movies on DVD in its TriDef 3D format.

The deal means movies can be played in 3D on the new generation of ‘glasses-free’ 3D displays developed in Japan and South Korea, and that are now starting to hit the market.

DDD will provide the specially encoded movies to its TriDef Movie Player licensees, including Sharp.

In Perth recently, the US-based Mr Yewdall said the deals marked an important milestone in the commercialisation of 3D technology.

“We have already received a great deal of interest in the notebook from our customers and we’re already taking orders,” he said.

“What we have here is the first generation of mass market 3D display devices and we know that we’ll go to high definition fairly quickly.”

Unfortunately, no distribution deal has been signed in Australia so exactly when this technology will be hitting our shelves remains to be seen.

While the company remains head quartered in Perth, having been founded here in May 1993, it is a publicly held company listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM) and has a registered office in the UK.

The company’s stock has hit new heights following news of major new contracts that could take its technology mainstream in less than a year.

News of these contracts, and the soaring share price, has seen the company enjoy positive reports from the IT media in the UK.