-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Baker [mailto:
steve@sjbaker.org]
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2011 11:44 AM
To: Shropshire, Andrew A
Cc: '
public_webgl@khronos.org'
Subject: Re: [Public WebGL] Stereoscopic monitors
No, unless the browser had some kind of special support, WebGL will not
appear any different from normal 2D images. I doubt such support is
likely anytime soon because it would imply massive changes to at least the
<canvas> subsystem - and likely throughout all of HTML. Stereo monitors
just aren't popular enough to make the effort that this would entail
remotely worthwhile.
Technically: To use stereoscopic displays, you have to render the entire
scene twice, once from the left-eye perspective, and again from the right
eye. These two images then have to be overlaid or combined or written
into two separate rendering buffers. There is support for doing this kind
of thing in OpenGL via various quad-buffer extensions and such. But none
of that is present in WebGL (AFAICT). Even if the extensions were
available, the whole concept of how the compositing pipeline would work in
stereo is not considered at all.
Also, IMHO, stereoscopic monitors are a complete waste of money. Except
in very niche applications, stereoscopic 3D is highly problematic. Issues
of dynamic depth of focus mean that barring some pretty stunning
technological leaps, these technologies will always cause people to suffer
headaches and other nasty symptoms - just as they do in 3D televisions.
To avoid this, the 3D-ness of the scene and the positioning of the camera
and set/lighting design has to be carefully considered. It's not just a
matter of displaying the material correctly.
Shropshire, Andrew A wrote:
> If I write WebGl and my website has WebGl content, will it appear in 3D on
> a
> stereoscopic monitor (3D monitor), if I purchase one? Ie is stereoscopic
> monitor support a benefit of using WebGl?
>
>
>
> Andrew Shropshire
>
>
>
> AT&T Government Solutions, Inc.
>
>
703-506-5708
>
>
shropshire@att.com
>
>
>
>
-- Steve