IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 85

For example, perception of depth is
very important in telesurgery, and the
console of the most common sur-
gery robot DaVinci manufactured
by Intuitive Surgical Inc. is equipped
with a stereoscopic display [19].
As we can see from the table,
there is a chance that solutions to
most technological problems will
be found, and in order to make any
prediction it is crucial to estimate
the truth of the thesis about lack
of demand. Are users really indif-
ferent as to whether they look at a
flat or a spatial image? The expla-
nation could be more social than
technical: merging into a virtual
world makes the user temporally
lose contact with the real world.
This is why virtual reality, although
popular among some game play-
ers, is not common as a form of
home entertainment: most people
prefer to socialize in front of a 2D
screen, rather than put on a wear-
able device that carries them to a
virtual world but cuts off reality. A
stereoscopic image, with or without
glasses, is a substitute for virtual
reality. Unlike 2D images, which
are certainly part of our homes, the
content of a stereoscopic screen
apparently crosses our walls and
draws our attention out of the room
in which we sit. If this is the rea-
son why even people fascinated
by stereoscopic imaging abandon
it after a short time, technological
progress will never introduce 3D
technology to homes.
From the history of stereoscopy we
can learn that the advantages of 3D
technology make it apparently attrac-
tive, and these appearances mislead
even experienced market players. It
was not the first time that technologi-

march 2017

cal advances led big man-
ufacturers to invest in 3D
washouts. When other tech-
nological innovations bring
a new wave of popularity for
3D, we can expect that such
companies will be more
careful before investing.

Author Information

Many people are enchanted when
looking at 3D content for the first
time as it brings the user closer
to the feeling of reality than a
two-dimensional image.

Pawel Rotter is assistant pro-
fessor at the Department of
Automatics and Biomedical Engi-
neering of AGH-University of Science
and Technology, Mickiewicza 30,
30-059 Kraków, Poland.

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IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

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