"I will win the crowd, I will give them something they have never seen before."

VR got off to a false start back in the mid 80's, for a while it really did look as if we would all be working in some kind of cyberspace by now. Then the slow death of the reality kicked in, the VR headsets were cumbersome, caused headaches and were very expensive, the graphics technology needed to produce an environment that even only slightly resembled the real world was years away.

Fast forward 20 years . . .
How are we doing for graphic power? Pretty amazing really, 100's of millions of polygons a second, mip-mapping, multiple light sourcing, hi-res textures--all these things just didn't exist 20 years back (except in Tron ;). What about the headset problem? I don't really know where things stand with headsets at the moment, but do we really require a headset? How about a 3D LCD display one that doesn't require goggles or glasses or any kind, how about this . . .

Okay so its not proper Virtual Reality, but its a good start. Surely its time to make that jump to hyperspace, to go for a 3D operating system. Who better to make this jump then Apple?
Apple has a rock solid, powerful OS, a 4th generation OS with a proper vector based and hardware enhanced GUI. The advantages of a full 3D operating system my not be obvious, but some applications for a fully 3D (goggleless) display system are.

Fast forward 3 years . . .
Apple release MacOS 10.6, 'Lion'. Its the worlds first 3D OS! To coincide with the launch they release a range of 3D displays based on Sharps 3D LCD technology. The Mac OS 10.6 Finder puts the 3D environment to great use--documents are displayed use a 3D depth cued grid system, with oldest (or less important) files at the back of the grid. The CubeFinder and be rotated, zoomed or expanded by a simply flick of the pressure sensitive trackball.
On the very same day Apple announce the QuickTake HD VR a High Definition video (and still) camera with a two lenses, two HD CCDs and 5.1 surround sound recording. The QuickTake HD VR records in 1080i HD resolution in MPEG4 AVC format onto a 20 or 40 GIG Hard Disc. The Stereoscopic MPEG4 file is then transfered to the Mac using Firewire 800. The two lenses are positioned at the very top of the cameras iPod like casing and can be rotated independently allowing the possibility of recording 2 mono video files, one pointing forward towards the scene and one pointing backward to catch the crowds reaction! The QuickTake HD VR also replaces the iSight as it can be mounted on top of any of the new 3D monitors and used not just for video conferencing but also as an 3D input device--hand motion is translated to actions within the 3D workspace.
Apple also release updates to iMovie, iPhoto Final Cut Pro and iChat AV, these updates included all manner or exciting innovations which capitalise on the QuickTake HD VRs ability to record in HiDef and 3D, one such innovation marvels the crowd . . . DepthCue. Just click (or point) on any part of video image and DepthCue reports back with an approximate distance from the lens to the subject! DepthColour. Adjust colours based on distance, mountain range a bit washed out? Adjust the levels and colour balance on object that are over 2 miles away, leaving the foreground untouched. DepthLayer. Composite from two different 3D video sources using depth, no more blue screen!!!

Rewind to present day. . .
So what's to stop all this from taking place? Nothing really, perhaps the cost of the displays would limit the uptake slightly, but then thats the advantage of Apple taking the lead--Mac users are used to paying for something different, something new and exciting, something that will allow them to experiment with a new art form.

More MacOS VR ideas to follow soon. Remember you heard it here first ;)