P3D The News in Depthe

[roberts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (John W Roberts)]

News item:

4/1/98: "Seymour Depthe Industries Announces World's First
        Ortho-Autostereoscopic Video Display"

Cleveland, OH:
  They said it couldn't be done. But after years of ridicule for inventions
that somehow never quite worked, Seymour Depthe, the founder of Seymour
Depthe Industries, today announced the development of the world's first
completely orthoscopic autostereoscopic video display to be used for
purposes of video entertainment.

  Financed by reclusive local billionaire and ornithologist H.T. Canard, 
the fourteen-inch display can be viewed over a wide range of angles, 
and produces stereo without any need for viewing glasses.

  What's new is that this video display offers a true "orthostereo"
experience - everything seen in the display is exactly the same size it
would be in real life. "We listened to the requests of the stereo community,"
stated Depthe, "and we realized that the number one priority is accurate
reproduction of size. People are tired of shrunk-down 'lilliputian' images."
Some local stereo enthusiasts remained skeptical, but there was a broad
outpouring of support for the ortho-autostereoscopic video display from
certain parts of the western US.

Of course, since it's only a fourteen-inch-diagonal display, a certain
amount of selectivity in viewing must be exercised - a market study determined
that a significant number of viewers were disturbed at the sight of what
appeared to be the disembodied head of their favorite entertainer in the
display. One application recommended by the company is viewing of objects 
that are naturally small - for example the viewer could watch a recording
of a number of mice scampering about a cage. Users can also mount it
on a wall and watch their favorite soap opera from across the room - it
will give the uncanny impression that the story is really taking place
in the next room, as seen through a fourteen-inch hole in the wall (an
optional sound muffler/echo device heightens the effect). As one viewer
commented, "Listening to those muffled voices, watching the characters
occasionally cross the field of view, gave me the impression, perhaps 
not quite of really being there, but at least of really being quite nearby".

What makes this amazing display possible is a revolutionary new technique
in which a coating of electrons is deposited over the entire outer surface of
a Klein bottle, and a coating of protons over the inner surface. The thickness
of the glass wall of the bottle keeps the two charges apart, and establishes
an electric field that enhances the ionization of the surrounding air.

The chief difficulty at this point is the signal source to drive the display.
The prototype utilizes some ten thousand carefully-synchronized 10-Gigabyte
hard disks, and the electromagnetic emissions from the signal cables
running to the display induce minor local distortions in the space-time
continuum that result in a mildly distracting shimmer on the display.
But Seymour noted that the technology is rapidly advancing - within two
years, the company hopes to reduce the signal channel to "less than a
hundred" single-mode optical fibers. Larger displays are on the horizon
as well - within the next twenty years, a fifteen-inch version may be
feasible.

Upon being asked when this display would be commercially available,
Mr. Depthe commented on the weather, thanked the reporters politely,
and stepped back inside his apartment.


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