Why Apple Should Put The Brakes on 3D Technology For the iPhone 5
You may have heard some faint rumors of 3D camera technology someday coming to the iPhone by way of some mind-blowing Apple patents that have surfaced over the past year or so. It's no wonder that Apple would be exploring 3D technology in its research and development efforts: we continue to see the application of next-generation 3D technology in motion pictures, such as James Cameron's Avatar, as well as the new Nintendo 3DS. In addition, television and computing sectors are beginning to invest vast resources into deploying 3D effects into a wide range of different media outlets.
A schematic in Apple's patent for a 3D camera. Could it end up on the iPhone 5?
Apple has two intriguing recent patents that focus on 3D: a 3D screen that would allow users to see the effect without 3D glasses, and a small 3D camera, which, by way of three separate camera sensors (see schematic to the left) would allow users to actually create and render 3D images themselves. Once deployed in a mobile device like an iPhone, this tandem of 3D inventions would most certainly turn mobile computing on its head: combined with gesture control as seen on the iPhone and iPad, it could even allow users to navigate their gadgets in a third dimension. That's some futuristic stuff!
Whether or not 3D technology could show up on the iPhone 5, however, remains to be seen.
I have postulated for the past few months that the iPhone 5 may in fact offer a groundbreaking new feature that few if any of us have even speculated on. Could this pairing of 3D technologies — the 3D screen and 3D rear-facing camera — be the hook that boosts the iPhone 5 into legendary status? After all, given Steve Job's ill health, for all we know, the iPhone 5 could be his swan song. He may be inclined to make the iPhone 5 a total game changer in mobile computing.
However, given the recent intelligence on the increasing possibility of an 8 megapixel camera for the iPhone 5 — served up by the folks at Sony — it would seem unlikely that Apple would be able to keep the lid on the additional components needed to construct a 3D camera. It could be possible that the iPhone 5 could debut its 3D screen without the pairing of a 3D camera — Nintendo 3DS already has a 3D interface, after all — but it should also be noted that, just because Apple has a patent for a 3D screen doesn't mean that the technology itself is imminent: it can take years for new ideas to become reality, as highlighted in this other article about a possible changeable topography touch screen for the iPhone 5.
And then there's also the possible dangers of 3D technology as a whole.
3D Technology Is A Possible Health Hazard
For as much as 3D technology seems like the wave of the future, Apple should be wary of deploying it in the iPhone 5. Ever since the debut of Avatar, 3D has been fraught with averse, well-documented side-effects that call into question whether man was meant for 3D technology. Remember: this isn't the 3D technology of old, complete with the funny-looking 3D glasses. Next-generation 3D technology renders images in holographic fashion by projecting images in staggered frames, so that each eye is processing images at different intervals, thus creating a three-dimensional image in the brain.
When Avatar was released, the use of 3D imagery, together with the larger-than-life, computer-generated landscapes, drove a portion of viewers to experience a broad scope of side-effects, from short-term nausea and dizziness to more serious long-term side-effects like depression and suicidal thoughts. TechRadar has an article that documents the phenomenon, with writer Marc Chacksfield reporting on how the realism of the film, combined with the utopic landscape of Pandora, left many moviegoers feeling empty and depressed. This combination of realism with other-wordliness has been attributed to 3D imagery.
In short, James Cameron opened Pandora's Box.
Cameron and other filmmakers tried to shrug off the early criticism of the dangers of 3D technology, but newer news of the ill effects of 3D in Nintendo's 3DS has corroborated the claims that not enough is understood about the effects of 3D imagery on the brain. A recent article in the Sun reports on how sickening side-effects have plagued Nintendo's wondrous new portable game console, reporting on Nintendo's damage-control disclaimer that "the console is not safe for under-sevens and advised playing in 3D mode for less than 30 minutes."
Considering that the whole point of buying the 3DS is to play games in 3D, this development should give Apple pause if they were thinking of releasing the iPhone 5 with any kind of 3D technology.
The fact of the matter is, the research on the effects of 3D has not yet caught up with the actual technology. It is a temptation to think that as humans, if we can build it, then it must be safe. After all, there are plenty of human developments over the past century that are both groundbreaking and unwieldy (nuclear energy and that scary supercollider in Switzerland immediately come to mind). Apple is most likely looking to hit a home run with the iPhone 5, but they should be careful playing with 3D tech right now — it is an unknown quantity.
And if the iPhone 5 does end with a 3D screen and/or camera, my advice would be to consider waiting to see the effects on users first before buying it.
