The Study Session was jointly hosted by the 3D Stereoscopic Brain Training WG and the Technical Sub-committee at the SGI Hall in the Yebisu Garden Place Tower on July 18, 2008.
The theme of this study session was the "Ultra-realistic display technology which assists the Brain Training WG".
"The 3D Stereoscopic Brain Training WG" is proceeding with activities to verify an assumption, that "3D stereoscopic expressions activate brains more than 2D expressions do". Among discussions to pursue a verification, there is the opinion that "3D stereoscopic contents" should be "ultra-realistic". However, at this moment, we do not have any clear-cut consensus about what "hyper-realism" actually refers to. In this connection, this study session picked up recent display technologies which are regarded to be "ultra-realistic", especially whose commercialization is advancing, to discuss what "ultra-realism" is. An exhibition with demonstrations was simultaneously organized.
In addition, explanations were made about the background of the "Contents Broadcast/Distribution/Production Research WG" which was established under the Contents Sub-committee and the "3D Measurement Method Standardization and Verification WG" which was established under the Technical Sub-committee and the Safety Guidelines Sub-committee.
There were 30 members at the study session for a total of 55 people attending.

<Contents of lectures>
An idea to present images and drawings on a 360-degree perfectly spherical screen started at the end of the 18th century. About 200 years later in 2005, "Earth Vision", which was presented during EXPO 2005 Aichi Japan, succeeded in surrounding the audience with a complete sphere which consisted of images without any joint lines. It was the birth of the first-in-history 360-degree perfectly spherical image. In 2008, the knowhow accumulated by the production of "Earth Vision" bore fruit again as a permanent exhibit named "Spherical Image" in Shanghai. The most significant knowhow concerning the perfectly spherical image lies in its projection method. Images which are transmitted from 12 projectors to screens with different projection distances have no distortion or joint lines. There are amazingly advanced technologies which were used to realize such projection. The latest technologies, which are always welcomed with astonishment, fulfill our visions beyond times.

<Contents of lectures>
Basically, construction of systems was my normal work since the period when I was working for Victor Company of Japan. By adding functions for production of software projects, I was able to have a business unit which could make proposals of new concepts. I would especially like to focus on the fact that representation of images can be greatly changed by our controlling them. I think that "Software ability + Hardware ability + Programming ability = Entertainment images (new forms of images)". The concept of "MEGA 3D 360" was born when an idea about a perfectly spherical image (360-degree) happened to come to my mind. I sought for what would happen if this was technically possible. I don't know why such an idea came to me, but since that time, I thought that images would shoot through us if I were able to realize such a sphere of images. I consulted many people but I only had negative opinions about realization of my vision.
I rented a big warehouse and built a tube-shaped theater with a diameter of 6.5 meters and a height of 3.5 meters.
After a temporary construction, I started experiments, which resulted in many successive days of failures.
After many experiments, I completed development of programs including a round-shaped screen, correction of distortion, synchronization among equipment and images with high definition quality.
Then, I acquired knowhow for contents production. The projection system was completed in July 2007, and I started to apply to exhibitions. In September 2007, I delivered the first system to AEON.
In 2008 April, I delivered the first system to a foreign country (Korea). The theater which introduced the system became terribly popular (up to 5,000 persons visited the theater per day). The system acquired first place in the categories of customer satisfaction and percentage of repeaters.
MEGA 3D 360 : http://www.mega3d360.com

<Abstract>
The talk will start with an introduction of the company SeeReal Technologies. Then properties of stereoscopic and holographic 3D displays will be compared. The concept of SeeReal's novel approach to holography with features such as viewing window and sub-hologram technology will be explained in some detail. Current prototypes of SeeReal's holographic display and some examples of product designs will be explained including solutions for color holography and advanced solutions for user eye tracking.

<Contents of lectures>
(1) 3D strategies and displays of Kerner and
(2) the FrameFree technology of Monolith Co., Ltd. and 3D were introduced.

<Exhibition with demonstrations>
Exhibition of the 46-inch display of Kerner and demonstration of contents which are presented on the display

<Contents of lectures>
NewSight Corporation handles a wide variety of businesses including development, manufacturing and sales of 3D glasses-free displays, planning and development of applications, contents production and installation of equipment and facilities for customers. Concerning contents production, the company positions it as especially important, and its research led to its own, unique production method. The virtual camera (Vcam: Virtual Camera), which has been developed by the company, uses a revolutionary method which achieves real-time conversion of 2-view images to the NewSight's format with 8-parallax images. This technology can be utilized for processes of contents production which makes rendering up to four times faster than conventional methods possible.

<Exhibition with demonstrations>
Introduction of 3D images which are presented on a 42-inch display