Entertainment Technology Center @ USC [1], the Los Angeles-based non-profit consortium that brings together top entertainment and consumer electronics companies to listen to and evaluate consumer mindshare towards future technologies, announced this week that MasterImage 3D LLC [2], Burbank, California, has joined as a Consumer 3D Experience Lab project sponsor.
MasterImage is a provider of pioneering stereoscopic 3D systems for theaters, auto-stereoscopic television and handheld displays and will bring its expertise to ETC@USC’s 3D initiatives.
ETC@USC’s 3D project will examine the art, technology, business and health issues related to the emerging consumer 3D entertainment experience.
“MasterImage is leading the way in 3D with new technologies that will help drive the marketplace,” says KC Blake, director of business development at ETC@USC. “Having a company like MasterImage participate in our 3D project will be instrumental in fostering pertinent discussions on the issues facing this industry. We look forward to the many contributions it will make to ETC@USC’s 3D-related projects.”
As a 3D project sponsor, MasterImage will participate in ETC@USC’s industry-leading 3D initiatives, including testing 3D products, 3D consumer adoption research and the impact of 3D technologies as it relates to human eyesight and the visual system. The 3D project will also focus on compatible and full resolution viewing tests, subtitling and EPG methods. The project will also look at all things related to 3D, including the challenges faced when selling 3D products, opportunities for retail, marketing in 3D, and overall industry education of 3D. The goal of ETC@USC’s sponsorship programs is to provide invaluable guidance and technical resources for the products of the future – and for the companies that make them.
With more than 1,200 theatre systems installed worldwide, MasterImage offers audiences the best 3D image experience, while providing exhibitors with a compelling ownership-based pricing model. The company’s auto-stereoscopic (glasses-free), 3D LCD technology for mobile and electronic devices are the first commercial displays of their kind, and the company’s 3D camera ASIC empowers dual camera-equipped devices that enable users to create and share 3D content.
The company is gearing up to deploy millions of auto-stereoscopic units with multiple manufactures worldwide. Founded in 2004, the company was recently acquired and capitalized by US-based Symphony 3D Holdings and is headquartered in Burbank, California.
The Entertainment Technology Center @ USC, founded in 1993 with the help of George Lucas, is a non-profit organization within USC’s School of Cinematic Arts [3].