The meeting was held as a Safety/Guidelines Section expanded meeting and jointly organized by the Safety/Guidelines Section and the Technology Investigation WG. Mr. Chiba, leader of the Safety/Guidelines Section, made a brief explanation of the interim report of the "Effects of 3D Images on living bodies" project performed by a Japanese governmental ministry, and reported that guidelines useful for member companies of the 3D Consortium were being prepared. Under the theme "For the creation of easy-to-see 3D contents for users," Mr. Izumi and Mr. Fukano of the Technology Investigation WG made concrete proposals to utilize achievements by content production technologies for securing safety. There were XXX member companies at the expanded meeting for a total of XXX people attending.

Under a three-year plan started in October 2003, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications established new projects simultaneously. The following is an explanation of the parts that are related to the 3D Consortium as an excerpt from interim reports for the year 2003 by these ministries.
The ultimate purpose of the "Standardization of the Appraisal Method on Safety of 3D Images to Living Bodies" project being performed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is to establish a rating method as a standard to classify newly-created contents on their comprehensive safety. The ultimate purpose of the "Technologies to Avoid Adverse Effects of 3D Images to Living Bodies" project being performed by the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications is to develop software which converts images that may be harmful to certain users to harmless ones according to the personal attribute data of the audience input from a terminal.
The difference of these two projects is that the one performed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is for establishing a standard for content providers, and the one by the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications is for avoiding adverse effects of images shown on displays accessible by consumers. It takes longer to achieve results, because they are handled by public organizations. We assume that it takes an additional two years for the development of technologies to display 3D images without giving visual fatigue.

We have been receiving many inquiries such as "How can we create safe 3D contents?" or "Can't we have some kind of 'certification' as a safe contents provider?" It is possible to reduce risks only by carefully using our research results.
The basic ways of coping with problems related to 3D images are firstly to: stop watching 3D images if there are any subjective symptoms. Secondly, take periodic rests while watching 3D images. These two points are important. As providers of 3D images, sufficient consideration should be given to the adjustment of the amount of protrusion of images.
To provide guidelines useful to members of the 3D Consortium, based on the assumption of using binocular parallax as a standard, we should gather many case examples for the production of easy-to-see contents, and use simple and practical descriptions for users.

We still see many unnatural 3D images, which means the ones which force users to make an effort to see them in 3D. One of the reasons is that digital technologies are still incomplete, but the problem will be solved within a few years.
Another big problem is that technologies to prepare 3D contents are not yet fully established. In order to expand markets, we have to solve each problem to improve the quality of 3D images to make them easier to be seen in 3D. Methods using binocular parallax are a major premise for such an improvement, and the urgent necessity is to organize and systemize basic technologies including the development of a common viewer.
As the 3D Consortium's standpoint, we believe that it is important to verify 3D images by watching actual images and to gather case examples prepared by various creators.

Even if 3D contents are developed with a huge effort, if the quality is just worth a reaction like "Yes, I can see them in 3D," it is not possible to improve the overall evaluation of 3D technology. First of all, we have to create "interesting 3D contents," and "impressive 3D contents" for better recognition.
As the 3D Consortium's standpoint, we think that we should choose adequate critics for a publication of methods to create and produce 3D contents, and give active assistance to the creation of experimental images by educational institutes and creators. By performing research on detailed themes, we need to establish special methods to edit and produce 3D images and editing software for them.
If we give greater interest and impression to 3D contents, we can remove any feeling of discomfort toward 3D images, and the audience must feel like watching them again, or telling others about their impression. We, the 3D Consortium, have to have know-how to create such contents as a "weapon" for the popularization of 3D technologies.