Electronics

EyeFly 3D screen protector film adds an extra dimension to your mobile device

The EyeFly3D screen protector turns a regular mobile phone screen into a 3D display using nanotechnology
The EyeFly3D screen protector turns a regular mobile phone screen into a 3D display using nanotechnology

The EyeFly 3D screen protector film, brought to consumers by Nanovue, promises to turn regular screens in mobile devices into glasses-free 3D displays. The product, originally nano-engineered by the Temasek Polytechnic (TP) and A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering’s (IMRE) in Singapore, is not the first of its kind of the market, but Nanovue claims it offers considerable advantages over competitors. The film has no perceivable influence on screen brightness, works both in portrait and landscape mode and, most importantly, does not distort regular 2D images.

“The filter is essentially a piece of plastic film with about half a million perfectly shaped lenses engineered onto its surface using IMRE’s proprietary nanoimprinting technology,” said Dr. Jaslyn Law of IMRE, who worked with TP to improve the product’s transparency and smoothness.

The material is a modernized and miniaturized take on lenticular lens technology. It uses an array of lenticular lenses to magnify different sections of the image beneath the film depending on the viewing angle, and effectively renders stereoscopic 3D content. Each of over 500,000 tiny lenses has a 1:100 height-to-width ratio and the total film thickness is 0.1 mm.

Before they can start enjoying 3D content, users have to download a viewing app (available both on Android and iOS) and use the calibration mode to properly align the film on the screen. The process seems to be rather painful and time-consuming, but, once this is sorted, the app can be used to view stereoscopic video content in 3D. A separate app lets you view images and convert your 2D photos into 3D. Also, a software development kit is to be made available to all developers interested in adding an extra dimension to their existing titles.

The EyeFly 3D film for iPhone 5 and the 5th generation iPod touch can already be pre-ordered for US$34.95, and a Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPad 4 version is next in the pipeline.

Interestingly, another product based on this technology to be marketed by Nanoveu is aimed at online banking security rather than mobile 3D entertainment. The film embedded in a token or a credit card can be used in a two-stage login authentication process, to optically decipher an otherwise unintelligible code displayed on screen.

More information is available in the video below.

Source: A*STAR

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5 comments
professore
Hands-up all those who think a 2D picture can be "converted" into 3D. No-one eh? Well what a surprise ! Where would all the information that was necessary to provide the second point of view come from?
Nathan Rees
I guess it would basically just be a copy of the same image shifted slightly (remember all those old 3D pictures in kids magazines?).
Art Toegemann
Conversion, by hand, has been around for a long time. see jim3Dlong.com
The article also mentions viewing 3D video content.
This is interesting.
warren52nz
@Profesore "Hands-up all those who think a 2D picture can be "converted" into 3D." Where did he say it could? It's obvious you'd need a 3D video to see 3D. This technology just allows the screen to send different images to your 2 eyes without 3D glasses.
Yoram Wasserman
I just received this product, the images does not look at all as with any glasses. Far from what was advertised, the result is just like those 3D bookmark souvenirs. Also it cause distraction to your display during regular use.
Not recommended at all.