Bowlers Journal in 3D
3D-News Posted: Friday, November 21, 2003 (22:47 UTC) | Posted By: Webmaster
The November 2003 issue (Vol. 90 No. 11) of BowlersJournal International contains a 3D section of classic bowling photos. More information about the magazine - but no sample photos - are available at http://www.bowlersjournal.com

	Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XV
3D-News Posted: Thursday, November 13, 2003 (22:51 UTC) | Posted By: Webmaster
The Advance Program for the 2004 Stereoscopic Displays and Applications conference is now available from the conference website: http://www.stereoscopic.org/2004/program.html The conference is scheduled for 19-21 January 2004 at the Santa Clara Convention Centre, Santa Clara, California. Please note that for 2004, the conference is NOT part of Photonics West. The three days of the conference will see sessions on Autostereoscopic Displays, Stereoscopic Compression, Stereoscopic Image Processing and Rendering, Stereoscopic Camera Systems, Stereoscopic Video, Human Factors, and Integral 3D Imaging.  Plus our other special events: Demonstration Session, Keynote Presentation, 3D Screening Session, etc.

	Bizarre Magazine
3D-News Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 (22:23 UTC) | Posted By: Webmaster
A Review - By Ray Zone The December 2003 issue of Bizarre Magazine, published in Great Britain (now on newsstands in the US for $7.95) is a special 3-D issue featuring an eclectic mix of weird images and attractive models in polychromatic anaglyph. A color 3-D cover of Playboy Playmate Neriah Davis in a skimpy bikini announces the special issue and this highly dimensional creature is featured in a poolside feature story inside in 3-D. Other 3-D features include a typical Bizarre Magazine conglomeration of truly unsettling images converted to 3-D by David Burder of London. "Picture Post Mortem," for example, is a 3-D spread showcasing outsized hands, a streetway crucifixion, the twin towers of the World Trade Center afire, a young Zebra attacked by two hungry crocodiles in a river and a striking photograph of a mountain climber dangling from a giant icicle. This magazine is definitely recommended for adults and is NOT for everyone. But it will become a 3-D collectible, I can guarantee you. The poolside 3-D photos of Neriah Davis were shot on Fuji Provia slide film with a twin Konica rig assembled by the late, great stereographer Paul Wing. The two Konica cameras featured matched 30mm lenses on a vertically oriented Jasper twin mount with convergence or "toe-in" capability and a split cable release. The twin rig was slaved to a power-pack that fired off a synchronised array of strobe and bounce lights that were planted in the backyard around the pool. Bagged in a wild 4-color printed envelope complete with custom red/cyan Bizarre 3-D glasses, this special issue continues a publishing tradition of using the anaglyph for its sensationalism, the process accentuating a momentary visual frisson of glossy sex and twisted anthropology. The numerous ads for video games and horror movies (one of which is in 3-D), along with gnarly 2-D features on Jonestown, Pol Pot, the Muppets and Men's Magazines of the 1950s and 60s illustrate quite nicely the insanely varied sensibilities at work on the editorial staff. The addition of color 3-D to this kaleidoscopic mix was inevitable.

	Obituary: Stephen A. Benton
3D-News Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 (4:00 UTC) | Posted By: Webmaster
STEPHEN A. BENTON: Dec. 1, 1941 - Nov 9, 2003 Stephen A. Benton, inventor of the rainbow hologram and a pioneer in medical imaging and fine arts holography, died of brain cancer at Massachusetts General Hospital on Sunday evening, Nov. 9. He was 61. Benton was director of the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) and the E. Rudge ('48) and the Nancy Allen Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Laboratory. MIT President Charles M. Vest said, "Steve brought a joy and spirit of inventiveness to all that he did. He was a gifted teacher, scientist, engineer and artist who personified the best of MIT." Benton was known for his enthusiasm for all things optical -- an enthusiasm, he said, that was ignited the minute he put on a pair of plastic 3-D glasses to watch the film "House of Wax" at age 11. "There was a realism and a sense of excitement like nothing I had ever felt before. Not only was I amazed; I determined then and there to figure out how it worked," Benton said. A native of San Francisco, Benton received his undergraduate degree from MIT in electrical engineering (1963) and worked with stroboscopy pioneer Professor Harold "Doc" Edgerton. During this time, Benton also worked at the Polaroid Corp., participating in Edwin Land's vision research laboratory. Benton received the M.S. (1964) and Ph.D. (1968) from Harvard University. "Steve was not only a superb scientist who led his field for decades, he was also a wonderful practical craftsman of the holographic image, and a Pied Piper for students, artists and designers who worked with advanced imaging technology. His influence on the art and design worlds has been profound and enduring," said architecture professor William J. Mitchell, who is academic head of MIT’s Program in Media Arts and Sciences. Benton had his first glimpse of a hologram in 1964. It was a "little coffee cup, but it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. I knew my life would never be the same," he said. Holography works like photography in that it records light wave patterns on chemically sensitive film or glass. Converging direct and indirect laser beams create its exciting 3-D effect. Benton invented rainbow hologram -- a process that makes a hologram visible using common white light, also known in its credit card iteration as "Benton holograms." Benton returned to MIT as a visiting scientist in the Laser Research Center in 1980. He became founding head of the Spatial Imaging Group in 1982. A founding faculty member of the Media Lab in 1984, Benton delighted in both the scientific and aesthetic applications of holography. He held 14 patents in optical physics, photography and holography, and his own works in holography have been displayed at the Museum of Holography in New York. In 1985, Benton began generating synthetic holograms from 3-D digital databases, initially creating a 3-D image of a green car floating in front of the Boston skyline. He described holography as a true "intersection of art, science and technology." While he considered viewing a good hologram to be a "magical experience," the rigor and depth of his research yielded far more than visual wizardry. Holograms have been used to create three-dimensional composites of CT and MRI scans that have been very useful in medical diagnosis. "As a world leader in both technology and the arts, Steve Benton epitomized the Media Lab. Rather than mere users of holography, he and his lab invented many aspects of it, including the basic science behind holographic video," said Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of the MIT Media Labs and the Jerome Wiesner Professor of Media Technology. Benton is survived by his wife, Jeanne Lamphier Benton; a daughter, Julia Benton; a son, James; and brothers Nicholas and Chris. He was a longtime resident of Lincoln, Mass. Funeral arrangements were incomplete at the time of writing.

	3D-Movies to be shown in German TV
3D-News Posted: Saturday, November 8, 2003 (20:12 UTC) | Posted By: Webmaster
German TV-Channel "VOX" in co-operation with mobile-phone company "O2" and TV-Magazine "TV Spielfilm" will be showing 3D-Movies in the "Telcast 3D System" between November 16th and December 7th, 2003. The Telcast 3D System uses the Pulfrich effect. Therefore, the glasses have one lighter filter (in front of the left eye) and one darker filter (in front of the right eye). Telcast uses lightly colored filters (pinkish for the darker filter and greenish for the lighter filter) - although "traditional" Pulfrich-glasses (with a grey filter) will work as well. The latest issue 24/03 of "TV Spielfilm" includes a free pair of Pulfrich-style glasses (although without hands), as well as a program guide of the forthoming "3D-Wochen" ("3D-Weeks"). The series will kick-off on Saturday, November 15th at 8.13pm on VOX. Saturday, November 15th 8.13pm: O2 TV-Spot Sunday, November 16th 5.00pm: auto motor und sport tv (Bufori in 3D; 7G Tronic) 6.15pm: VOXTOURS - Das Reisemagazin (Namibia) 7.15pm: Fit For Fun TV (Anni Friesinger hautnah) Saturday, November 22nd 5.00pm: WOLKENLOS - Das Urlaubsmagazin (Queensland - Great Barrier Reef) 5.55pm: tierzeit (Wissen des Waldes - Orang Utans) Sunday, November 23rd 5.00pm: auto motor und sport tv (Oldtimer-Auktion) 6.15pm: VOXTOURS - Das Reisemagazin (West-Australien - Bungle Bungle) 7.15pm: Fit For Fun TV (Heidi Klum hautnah) Saturday, November 29th 5.00pm: WOLKENLOS - Das Urlaubsmagazin 5..55pm: tierzeit Sunday, November 30th 5.00pm: auto motor und sport tv 6.15pm: VOXTOURS - Das Reisemagazin 7.15pm: Fit For Fun TV Saturday, December 6th 5.00pm: WOLKENLOS - Das Urlaubsmagazin 5..55pm: tierzeit (Grizzlys - Braune Riesen im Visier) Sunday, December 7th 5.00pm: auto motor und sport tv 6.15pm: VOXTOURS - Das Reisemagazin 7.15pm: Fit For Fun TV

	Christie First with 3D Digital Cinema Projection at Korean Culture EXPO
3D-News Posted: Wednesday, November 5, 2003 (2:50 UTC) | Posted By: Webmaster
Started in 1998, the Gyeongju World Culture Expo has steadily gained a reputation as a major international festival in leading Korea's Gyeongsangbuk-do province. The festival has helped bring Korea into an age of culture by focusing on the dreams and sensitivities of the new millennium. Apart from featuring various performances as a cultural exchange among countries, the event's main programming highlights the screening of three-dimensional (3D) films. In order to help this year's expo achieve the required realism for its 3D film showcase, Christie Digital Systems offered its DLP™ projection solutions to transform these films into real cinematic experiences. Adopting the same theme as the event, the Expo's main film "Dreams of the Flying Horse", based on mythological and historical facts of Silla, was screened in the festival site's 651-seat Emille Theatre. Developed by Dr. Koh Wook from Ajou University, the film blended the essence of technology with 3D reality and a full stereophonic sound system. The fantastical drama depicting the heroic adventures of "Giparang" Hwarang in his search for Manpasikjeok, a legendary flute was created using cubic computer graphics and 4D (3D plus realtime effects) images. With a screen that measures 11m x 21m (36ft x 69ft), it became an immediate assignment to present consistent, high-quality and high-brightness projection in bringing the 4D masterpiece to life. Mindful of this essential requirement, Christie's Korean partner, Eugenetek Corporation creatively tailored a solution by adopting the world's first use of Christie DCP-H digital cinema system in a 3D application. Positioned behind the screen at a projection length of 37m (121ft), two DCP-H digital cinema projectors were used on the left and the right side of the screen to project the inputs received from two High-Definition Players. Designed for use in large screen theatres, the DCP-H projectors provided the natural film-like, 24 frames per second motion images with extreme clarity, and filled the entire screen with consistently bright, high quality images. As powerful digital cinema projectors utilizing the latest advancements in DLP Cinema™ technology (the only digital advanced technology to be endorsed by Hollywood), they also helped to recreate the needed realism to transform the film into a larger-than-life cinematic adventure for the audience. Apart from the feature film, the Expo also featured another 3D production, "Animal Vision", in its smaller 300-seat Cheonseongdae Theatre. Developed by the world's first integrated digital studio, nWave Pictures, the documentary film is a subset of "SOS Planet" and offers an insight into environmental issues. It uses dazzling digital effects, 3D and computer-generated character animation to offer audiences a chance to immerse completely within the environments depicted on screen. To provide the necessary imagery, two Electrosonic servers were used to feed content to two Roadie S12 DLP™ projectors also leased by Eugenetek. These projectors placed about 24m (78.7ft) from each side of the screen, projected onto the 9m x 18m (29.5ft x 59ft) screen. Designed for multi-media presentations in large audience settings, the HDTV and DTV-ready S12s with their 12,000 ANSI lumens brightness, robust structure and advanced image processing capabilities offered unrivalled image quality for the festival's 16 daily screenings. "Although the set-up for both the screening venues only took three days, we spent more than one month testing out the system to achieve accurate projection that is essential for such three-dimensional and virtual reality films. After all the Expo screenings, we are pleased to say that our client is fully confident in using Christie products as they have proven themselves highly reliable and provide sharp, bright, beautiful images in 3D," said Mr. Lee Joon-Ho, president of Eugenetek Corporation. The 2003 Gyeongju Culture World Expo cost about US$17 million and featured more than 10,000 artists from 54 countries. Since its opening on August 13, 2003, the event attracted a total of more than 70,000 spectators, including 50,000 international visitors. It lasted a total of 72 days and ended on October 23, 2003.

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