Gene Frantz
TI Principal Fellow, Futurist and Business Development Manager, DSP


I saw an interesting demo the other day from a small company in Korea, ECT. It seems they have figured out how to take a two dimensional video stream and convert it to a three dimensional video stream. Not only that, they can do it in real time. I found this interesting in two respects:

- A method of accelerating the acceptance of 3D TV.

- An opportunity to think about where else 3D could be useful.

Accelerating acceptance

As I remember, from my childhood, color TV was on the horizon. My memory tells me that what brought it to the market was RCA’s controlling both a TV network (NBC) and the retail TV channel for their RCA branded TVs. This solved a significant problem in introducing a new technology: Who would want to buy a color TV set if there was no content to watch; and, what TV network (and station) would want to spend a great deal of money on adding color to their broadcast content if there was no audience to watch it. Since RCA controlled both sides of the market (content source and retail channel) it was possible to accelerate the adoption of color TV in the market.

The same issue is occurring for 3D TV: Why should I buy a 3D TV when there isn’t anything to watch in 3D? And, at the same time, why should anyone create 3D content for TV if there is no one to watch it?

That brings me to the gadget I saw demonstrated. The idea of converting 2D content into 3D content in real time is perhaps the way to accelerate the introduction of 3D to the market.

What else would 3D be good for

But, the interesting question is “what other uses are there for 3D content (and therefore real time conversion of 2D content to 3D content) beyond entertainment?”  This is the question that one of our senior managers asked while watching the 2D to 3D conversion demonstration.

So I have been thinking about it a bit but haven’t dug up any killer apps for 3D conversion from existing 2D content. Yes, I can think of a lot of interesting uses for 3D content, things like:

- Automotive vision where depth is more important the color.
- Medical imaging from surgery to diagnostics to aging in place.
- Surveillance for security systems, military systems, advertising, etc.
- Robotics
- Photography
- Advertising

But, then, is there any value in being able to convert existing 2D content in any of these areas into 3D content? Well, let’s attempt a few simple ones:

- Photography is a good example. I would love to be able to take many of my pics and make them 3D. Just think what this could do for Facebook or Youtube. It would bring a new dimension to sharing our lives.
- Advertising is another. Nothing catches the eye of the market than adding a new look to old content.

But this is where I begin to run out of ideas.  So, I thought I would open it up to you. What new, amazing things could we do with the ability to convert 2D content into 3D content?