The newest and latest trend is 3D movies. I went to see Avatar when it was released and had a choice to see it in regular 2D at regular price of $14 or, for $3 more, I could watch it in the new sensation of 3D.

Of course, I spent the additional cash.

Now, you can have 3D in your home or yacht with 3D LED televisions and even projectors. Is this new trend a novelty, or is it here to stay?

I’m not so sure it’s not just a phase, and it’s not because of the silly glasses or the lack of content. It's not even that we all kind of just hate it. No, we still watch it because of the cool factor.

3D’s primary failure is our eyeballs. Specifically, how millions of years of human development have taught them to focus.

A big problem with 3D is the convergence/focus issue, but the bigger problem is that the viewer must focus at the plane of the screen. This is constant, no matter what.

But the eyes must converge at perhaps 10 feet away, then 60 feet, and so on, depending on what the illusion is. So 3D films require us to focus at one distance and converge at another.

Millions of years of evolution have never presented this problem before. All living things with eyes have always focused and converged at the same point, not multiple points as 3D films require us to do.

It's not that we're incapable of this optical trick, which is like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time. It's that it's really hard. It gives us headaches. It makes us queasy. 

Every time we encounter a 3D effect, our brains need a few milliseconds to figure out the dimensions of each shot and eventually our eyes and brains just get tired. It’s like watching home videos and the camera keeps moving and bouncing around, or like being on a roller coaster for 90 long minutes and looking for a trash can when you finally get off.

Remember when making any buying decision to do your research first and, if possible, take it for a test drive to see how you like it. 

About the Author

Mike Avery

Owner

Mike Avery is a founder of MC2 (Music, Cinema and Control), which specializes in design, engineering, and installation of audio/video, lighting, remote control and theaters for yachts. He has more than 18 years experience in the field. Contact him at 954-914-4755.