Do the possibilities of the future include 3-D?  It certainly is one of the hot topics at CES this year!  Several vendor booths that I visited, Samsung, LG, Sony, and Panasonic, included 3-D television displays for visitors to enjoy.  Samsung also showed off the ability for their technology to turn regular 2-D technology into 3-D.  Though specific glasses are required to journey into the virtual 3-D world, they are far more sophisticated that those old cardboard glasses that I remember using in the past.  Today’s glasses are slim, sleek, and lightweight; I was even easily able to fit them over my normal glasses.  One vendor, TCL, was even displaying televisions that showed 3-D images without the need for glasses.  It provides about eight different viewing angles for a person to look at and have the 3-D experience.  However, this is not ready for the consumer market yet.

The 3-D effect itself is impressive.  I could definitely see how gamers and animated, sci-fi and fantasy film makers could harness this technology to provide users a more life-like experience.  While at the show, I heard rumbling that some thought the 3-D technology was overhyped; I tend to disagree.  Bringing this interesting technology into one’s living room is a technological advancement.  While 3-D has existed for decades, it required the user to leave the comfort of their home and go elsewhere to have the experience.  Now through the purchase of a 3-D television and a 3-D Blu-ray player you can have the experience literally at your finger tips in your home. 

As an educator at heart, what struck me the most about this new technology was how it could be used to help educate.  I can already image watching a 3-D documentary about the celestial heavens with planets and stars swirling in from of my eyes…close enough to touch, but not tangible to hold.  This technology could also virtually transport an individual to the top of Mount Everest or the bottom of the sea.  To hold in one’s living room the wonders of the world, ancient ruins or mysteries of the galaxy, that is the 3-D technology’s powerful appeal.

Will it be commercially successful?  Does it only appeal to a niche market?  What could make this technology successful is that it is not an additional unit that may only be used once or twice.  The 3-D capability is incorporated into televisions, which since the 1950s have become central to American entertainment.  This means while one member of the household could watch a non-3D (that is 2-D) program, later someone else could pop-in a 3-D DVD on the same television.  However, I do see price as being a key factor to 3-D technology adoption. 

I speculate that 3-D television is the just the tip of the iceberg as we move deeper into virtual technology experiences.  So perhaps over time, its success may not be measured in the amount of actual units sold, but in showing today’s generation of children what is possible and hooking them into seeking virtual experiences.  By enticing a generation into desiring more than a 2D experience this could help drive advances towards more user-friendly 3-D and virtual experiences.  

Would you like to have a 3-D television in your home?

What programming content would you like to see on a 3-D television?

Since 1967, technology enthusiasts have gathered at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to marvel at the new gizmos and gadgets displayed at the tradeshow.  Matthew, our Community Advocate, and I will be attending this year to see all the wonders that will be displayed there.  To our delight, we will be joined by three of our Best Buy Community’s superusers who were randomly selected to go.  I look forward to meeting hockeycanuckjc, mstng87gt and RealGeorgeW in the 3-D!  Thanks to dedication by all our superusers and Community Connectors, this online Community is a thriving location for discussion about the latest and greatest technology products. 

While others may go for the parties, glitz and celebrity sitings, for me CES is an opportunity to gaze into the future of possibility.  Tablets, smartbooks, e-readers, power utilization, wi-fi, 3-D television, and memory storage are only a few of the technologies I look forward to learning more about at CES.  I plan to bathe myself in the immense amount of information at the event so that I can continue to plan strategically for the continued growth of this Community.  As usual, I will be tweeting, blogging and vlogging about my experience at the event. 

What technologies would you like to know more about?

What technologies will help re-write the future of humanity in during this century?