Toronto Firm Thinks It's Perfected Single-Lens 3D Technique

[Silversurfer]

Consumer trepidation aside, one of the other major issues standing in 3D's way on its march into the mainstream is high production costs. 3D typically means two lenses, but one company, ISee3D, may have perfected a way using just one.

In theory, ISee3D's technique is mind-numbingly simple in its execution. According to them, one need only cover up one half of the camera lens, which shifts the focal point, and then cover up the opposite side of the lens, shifting it again. Rapidly alternate between the two sides and voila, two images of the same subject from slightly different focal points and a 3D image. Sharp's glasses-free 3D parallax screens, deployed in the upcoming Nintendo 3DS, operate on a similar principle, thanks to their shifting images.

Of course, this is but one issue in a long list of issues presently plaguing 3D adoption. Shifting lenses aside, those glasses...they still just won't do.

Bonus trivia: ISee3D cut its teeth in the 3D camera space back in the 1990s, when it deployed a single lens 3D camera into the minimally invasive surgery space. [ISEE3D via DVICE]

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[android78]

That is brilliant!!!
I think this is a step in the right direction since it seems to auto-compensate for the lens shift that would normally be required. I do, however, believe that even better results could be found by having mirrors and two cameras behind the single (very large) lens.
My main problem with this is that you will get a very short depth of field if you are using such a large lens. I wonder if you can have two aperture, one for left and one for right.

[cybereality]

I still don't get it, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.