[by 3DContentBlog]

Chill Everybody! Let us not overreact, and here is why:

Hardly a week passes without some great new 3D statistics (see here, here, andhere for examples) or announcements by major players (see BBC. CBS, or Orange). At the same time there are also a lot of sceptic commentary from media executives, producers, research companies and consumers. So, should we be optimistic or pessimistic about the future of 3D? And why are there so many divergent views on the matter?

I think at this point it makes sense to take a look at the classic hype cycle, a “graphic representation of the maturity, adoption and social application” (Wikipedia) of technologies. The research firm Gartner coined this term and this memorable chart.

My point here is not to convince you that 3D is at one particular stage or another today. To be honest, it would take a good analyst to locate the respective positions for 3D cameras, 3D TVs, etc. No, my point is simply

that it is completely normal to see so many ups and downs in a new technology. Yes, there will be the sceptics and the people who have vested interst in 3D not succeeding (typically larger players who are adopting change at a slower rate) and there will also be the optimistis (typically start ups and  new players who are completely vested into this new technology – like me for instance).

Compare this to the stockmarket. On every given day you will see many reasons to buy or sell a stock and you could easily spent your whole life analyzing. But, what are the “fundamentals” behind this trend. So let´s look at what really matters, and, hint, it is not any particular announcement:

1. 3D Cameras

are becoming more and more commodized (cheaper)

2. 3D Channels

are acquiring new content fast; are being launched in most larger markets before Christmas season

3. 3D TVs

are becoming more and more commodized and the manufacturers are starting to offercontent along with the TVs.

4. 3D Content

there is plenty of it, and there will be much much more (see here).

So, let us all chill, and look beyond the weekly flood of 3D announcements. The third dimension is here to stay and the best response to negative news is to look at Gartner´s hype cycle and to refer to the reaction to Color TV in the 1960s.

See the original post here: http://www.3dcontentblog.com/

[by Stereoscopy News]

In 2013, ESA will launch Gaia, the most powerfull stereoscopic camera ever build to the L2 Lagrange point (a million-and-a-half kilometres from Earth) where it will stay taking pictures for at least 5 years. Gaia will catalogue a thousand million stars, producing 10,000 times more data than the previous Hipparcos mission.

The on-board gigapixel stereoscopic cameras were not designed with hairdressers in mind. However, they will have the capacity of measuring the diameter of a human hair at 1000 km!

The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced the completion of the cameras that’s to be used in Gaia: a billion-pixel mosaic comprising 106 individual CCDs in a 0.5×1 meter array.

Although Gaia’s transmitter is weak, it will be able to maintain the transmission at an 5 Mbps data rate from a distance of 1.5 million km. ESA’s most powerful ground stations, the 35 m-diameter radio dishes in Cebreros, Spain, and New Norcia, Australia, will intercept the faint signal. Gaia will always point away from the Sun.

After launch, it will unfold a ‘skirt’ that consists of a dozen separate panels. These will deploy into a roughly circular disc, just over 10 m in diameter that performs two functions: sunshade, which will permanently shade the telescopes in the payload module and allow their temperatures to drop to –100°C. The other function is to generate power for the spacecraft, so its surface will be partially covered with solar panels to generate electricity.

See the original post here: http://stereoscopynews.com/hotnews/history/digital/1706-the-ultimate-stereoscopic-camera.html

Find more info on Gaia here: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=26