Apple’s Next Gen iPhone Rumored To Bring ‘Naked Eye 3D’ Display Technology
Just when you thought the ship had sailed for glasses-free 3D displays on smartphone devices, a rumor has surfaced that Apple is toying with the idea of implementing one on its next iPhone handset. As the rumor goes, the "naked eye 3D screen," as it's referred to in a Chinese-language report, would be part of a bigger 3D hardware and software ecosystem.
Hogwash, right? Perhaps, though it's worth noting Apple has a documented interest in 3D technology. Over six years ago, the Cupertino outfit applied for a patent related glasses-free 3D stereoscopic displays, which included tracking technology so that the user would always see a 3D landscape without having to keep his or her vision dead center in the so-called sweet spot.
Following that, Apple applied for a 3D "Hyper Reality" display patent. It covered software and hardware technology that would alter the perspective of objects depending on the position of the user's head.
If Apple is indeed chasing after 3D technology for its next iPhone, there's a hurdle to jump over. Several, actually, but one in particular is that glasses-free 3D displays can't be built using in-cell touch technology, which is what Apple's been using since the iPhone 5. In order to solve that problem, it's being reported that Apple would enlist the help of touchscreen manufacturer TPK to create the kind of displays needed.
As far as we're concerned, the original report is perhaps a bit ambitious to think Apple could accomplish all this by the time it releases its next iPhone. Not only is there a development cycle in terms of building a compatible display, but also being able to mass produce them.
Hogwash, right? Perhaps, though it's worth noting Apple has a documented interest in 3D technology. Over six years ago, the Cupertino outfit applied for a patent related glasses-free 3D stereoscopic displays, which included tracking technology so that the user would always see a 3D landscape without having to keep his or her vision dead center in the so-called sweet spot.
Following that, Apple applied for a 3D "Hyper Reality" display patent. It covered software and hardware technology that would alter the perspective of objects depending on the position of the user's head.
If Apple is indeed chasing after 3D technology for its next iPhone, there's a hurdle to jump over. Several, actually, but one in particular is that glasses-free 3D displays can't be built using in-cell touch technology, which is what Apple's been using since the iPhone 5. In order to solve that problem, it's being reported that Apple would enlist the help of touchscreen manufacturer TPK to create the kind of displays needed.
As far as we're concerned, the original report is perhaps a bit ambitious to think Apple could accomplish all this by the time it releases its next iPhone. Not only is there a development cycle in terms of building a compatible display, but also being able to mass produce them.
