3D Displays are the Future...?

Why is everyone’s fascination with 3D? First we had 3D movies at the movie theater that you still needed 3D glasses for. Then came 3D TVs. Recently 3D printing has been on the rise and is very popular in the science community. Now another scientific innovation seems to have occurred. Even though it’s still in the prototype phase, researchers have developed a 3D display which brings data to life by allowing your screen to change shape. With just a touch of a fingertip, the screen translates numbers and trends into shapes and gradients you can reach out and touch.

The 3D display has an interactive grid of 100 moving columns that allows people to understand and interpret data at a glance. You can physically interact with data points by touching, selecting and swiping through them to hide, filter and compare sets of data easily. This is a whole new experience that puts flat 2D screens to shame. The creators hope that when completely developed, these displays can one day be sold to companies and individual people. In addition, it might somehow be incorporated into mobile phones.

The leader of the team that created this prototype, Dr. Alexander, thinks that because people are now able to quickly identify patterns and absorb large amounts of information, this product could change business and education. Before this could happen, the team had been studying how people interact with it and if they could easily navigate, compare data sets, organize, annotate and drill down into the fine details. They needed a design that allowed users to quickly comprehend large data sets while also offering them traditional graph-based manipulations.

The next step is to make the prototype smaller, lighter and with more ‘bars’ so devices can be installed in meeting room tables and in public areas  to quickly and meaningfully convey data-driven information. Dr. Alexander said “What would it be like if every pixel on your screen could move? Imagine the possibilities. Our lab works to develop new devices that merge the physical and digital worlds.”

In some ways, the idea is truly amazing and sounds like something from a sci-fi movie. It’s in the realm of holograms such as the ones in Avatar or Iron Man. However, even those are being developed today. These things may not be readily available on the market, but I’m sure the next decade will see them there and in everyone’s homes.

In a way, I do wonder how much will change when they become the norm. Will business meeting change because of the way data is displayed? I don’t really think so. Will more information be conveyed and so result in better end results? That may be the outcome and life will certainly be easier to understand.

How well will it be applied to the education system? I can just see kids in fourth grade using it to learn geography or math. How big will the generation gap get between them and people still in the work force who are a few years away from retiring? I have noticed how some people don’t have a concrete grasp on excel and it’s almost a basic skill that’s required on a resume of a college graduate. Will being able to understand and manipulate these types of technologies become a basic skill that’s required by graduates as well in the future? And what will happen to the old timers? Only time will tell.