By Neil Schneider

Nielson has received some headline space by putting out a study of what consumers think of 3D.  Here are their key findings:

57% of viewers thought that 3D television made them feel like they were “part of the action”, and 48% described 3D as making them feel more engaged with what they were watching.  Almost half of the consumers studied (47%) said that 3D television would encourage them to watch programs they normally wouldn’t.
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"...and 3D movies have been available in movie theaters for a long time anyway, what exactly was being shown?"
The key yo me is that people don't live in a vacuum. The people tested weren't unaware of 3d before, and then somehow all of a sudden feeling unimpressed after the projection.
I bet it went this way: most had some experience of 3D movies, so they were excited and enticed by some vague promise of seeing something mind-blowing. After being fed yet another movie theater experience, the vague promise morphed into a resounding "meh". Been there, done that.
The result is an artifact of the setup.
Nonetheless, people were originally expressing genuine interest.