Glasses-free 3D technology, otherwise known as autostereoscopic 3D, has entered the digital signage landscape as an emerging solution, and potentially the wave of the future for an industry focused on delivering consumer engagement.

Today’s 3D displays go well beyond the limits of traditional 2D digital signage, by allowing advertisers to break the fourth wall and introduce the brand into the consumer’s environment without the hassle of putting on and taking off 3D glasses. The combination of new technology that viewers don’t yet have in their home, with stimulating digital effects that leap off the display, is the one-two punch combo that marketers are using as their visual “bullhorn” to drive engagement. Glasses-free 3D is the new way to connect in the overcrowded out-of-home media market.

The difference between traditional media and glasses-free 3D is the novelty of seeing 3D without glasses, and high-quality content that actually has audiences extremely engaged. More importantly, it has active consumers excited and stopping to watch advertising — much like they once did with the advent of color ads in the days of black and white-only TVs. In that sense, glasses-free 3D could be a priceless marketing tool that enables advertising messages to be regarded more as entertainment than an intrusion into one’s personal space — and one that extends dwell time with a brand, allowing marketers to deliver their complete message and truly connect. It appears as if history once again repeats itself with glasses-free 3D.