IPad 2 Gets 3D Display, Kind Of

Researchers have developed a way to show 3D images on the iPad 2 with no special hardware, a technology that could bring a "faux" 3D effect to virtually any device with a front-facing camera.

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The technique uses the tablet's front camera to track the movement of a user's head and adjust images accordingly to show a glasses-free 3D effect on the iPad 2's screen.
The effect works on any display; a video demonstration on a regular computer monitor shows the effect to be less convincing than a true stereoptic 3D, but surprisingly convincing nonetheless.
The experiment is the latest in bringing 3D technology to a growing number of mobile devices, most of which use specialized display technologies to create the 3D effect. Some devices don’t require the viewer to wear special glasses, like the HTC Evo 3D and Nintendo’s 3DS, while others, like the LG G-Slate, do. Accelerometers can help produce the effect as well, as with the LG Thrill.
The ever-expanding world of 3D devices isn't just about seeing 3D -- it's also about making 3D. Apple filed a patent with the likely intention of creating a way to take 3D pictures and videos on a future iPhone using hardware instead of the disparity-detecting software used on some other cameras. Three-dimensional smartphones like Thrill and Evo 3D also both have two cameras, making it possible to capture three-dimensional images.
The ability to create semi-3D effects using software and increasingly common front-facing cameras could lead to new user interface models for mobile devices. The "taste" of 3D offered by this technique could also drive demand for the more "intense" hardware-dependent 3D technologies.
Researchers Jeremie Francone and Laurence Nigay of the Laboratory of Informatics at the EHCI Research Group developed the technique, called Head-Coupled Perspective, which adds another 3D viewing method to the growing list of ways to see in three dimensions on smartphones, tablets and gaming devices.
Francone and Nigay explain their method this way: "We use an off-axis projection in order to adapt the perspective of the 3D scene according to the head’s position of the user. Such spatially-aware mobile display enables one to improve the possibilities of interaction."