Smartphones Can Display 3-D With New Filter

A new removable filter can let you watch 3-D movies on your smartphone without glasses. The filter builds on technology that has been around for close to 100 years—the lenticular lens, which can display 3-D images using a wave-like surface but does so on a nanoscale.

The screen protector was developed by Temasek Polytechnic (TP) and Singapore-based Institute of Materials Research and Engineering’s (IMRE). The filter will be marketed by Nanoveu Pte. Research started in 2010 with funding through a National Research Foundation grant.

“The filter is essentially a piece of plastic film with about half a million perfectly shaped lenses engineered onto its surface using IMRE’s proprietary nano-imprinting technology,” said IMRE scientist Jaslyn Law.

So far, the team developed applications (apps) for the filter on iOS and Android that let users to play 3-D content. They’ll also be developing a software development kit that lets game developers convert their games to 3-D.

“Our breakthrough is a game-changing piece of plastic that simply fits onto current smartphones or tablets to give users breathtaking 3-D graphics on their smart devices,” said Nanoveu Pte founder and CEO, Alfred Chong, in a press release.

“This removable plastic also opens up a multitude of opportunities for anyone wanting to create affordable premium 3-D content and games for quick adoption to existing portable devices easily,” Chong said.