3D might be the next big thing in gaming, but Sony, Nintendo, and other companies still have a ways to go in educating consumers.
A recent online survey has determined that consumers generally don’t understand how 3D display technologies work. Interpret conducted the survey with 1,500 people from the ages of 12-65, with the research firm’s Michael Cai presenting his results at the ongoing Game Developer’s Conference Online in Austin, Texas.
Cai said the idea was to penetrate a largely varied group of consumers to make the results as accurate as possible. The most interesting result was that more than half of those surveyed, said to be tech-savvy people, indicated that they didn’t grasp the current-day concepts of how 3D television works.
The survey found that 63% of videogame console owners believe that a firmware/software update is the only thing needed to bring 3D into their homes. The reality is that a brand new 3DTV specifically made to display 3D is a required purchase.
In addition, even more respondents didn’t have any knowledge of the existence of glasses-free 3D displays soon to be available in the Nintendo 3DS and televisions from Toshiba. 83% of those surveyed said they believed that all 3D required glasses, while nearly half said that these glasses were the main reason why they wouldn’t bother with 3D.
In the defense of those that took the survey, 3D is a very new technology as far as consumers are concerned. 3D televisions have barely been on the market, and 3D gaming is still in its infancy. Cai believes that the 3DS will be an “important driver” in the “acceptance and desire of 3D technologies,” while I can see Call of Duty: Black Ops supporting stereoscopic 3D also having an effect. Through whichever method, consumers will definitely need to understand how 3D works before they can begin to experience it, otherwise they’ll just be sitting in their living rooms wearing funny glasses for no reason.
Source: Gamasutra
