Early April Fools joke?

Over on HackedGadgets, who in turn got it from engadget, I saw a video for a new type of 3D TV technology.  Most 3D technologies require some sort of glasses to be worn, either with polarized lenses or with LCD shutters that open and close very rapidly.  The polarized versions work with a projector that projects two versions of the same scene, each slightly offset from the other, and each with its own polarization.  The glasses filter the scenes so that each eye only sees the scene that is intended for it. The brain then merges these images into one somewhat 3D appearance.  The only 3D movie I’ve ever seen is the Nascar one several years ago at the Imax theater.

LCD glasses are similar except the images are staggered both in time and in space, and the glasses alternately block the vision from one eye then the other.

Well, why go to the bother of those expensive glasses if you can simple attach some electrodes to your face that cause your eyes to blink alternately at 60 Hz?  Just synchronize them to the projector and you’re ready to go.

That’s what  Jonathan Post claims to have done in a video posted to youtube that has racked up over 2 million views since being posted a few days ago.

Can your eyes even blink at 60 Hz?  If they did would you be able to capture the blinking in a youtube video with a refresh rate of much less than that?  How long would it be before your eyelids had Charles Atlas sixpacks?  Was the post production editor scripted to add those eyeblinks, or were they all drawn by hand?  These questions are all unanswered by the video, however the technology is supposed to be ready for everyone to see in time for CES 2012.

It’s entertaining to watch his eye blinks rev up after attaching the electrodes and using the remotes to turn them on, and spin down after the demonstration is complete.

Steve Ravet

DN Gadgeteer