The Worth of the Accessories.

In this blog I've brought up some accessories for cameras, monitors, glasses and other technologies which allow for 3D to be views better, or more often, or in a different way. This week I saw a new "viewer" called TOYin3D, a viewer which enables any smart phone to play 3d content by showing side by side video which it then pulls into a singular, stereoscopic image. The technology is cool in that it is another way for the masses to view 3d content and enables on the go 3D viewing, but is it viable? Among all of the new technologies and accessories out there for this purpose which I've stumbled across, I've noticed that they all seem to share this common problem. Who would use such a thing? Does it have a real place in the marketplace? 

I've read so many articles over the past few months about 3D television (and essentially post box office 3D films), being a dying art. That until the technology is easier or more widespread, it'll never be in the fore front. Last Sunday, six Oscar's were awarded to 3D movies (with categories including Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects), more so than ever before. The art form is at arguably its greatest place to date and I have to think that all of these articles are further from the truth. And then I see TOYin3D. Maybe the disconnection is in the accessories. Recently, 3D viewing accessories and toys has been popping up all over the place. They seem to be often marketed under the notion that 3D offers a better or cooler version of the entertainment, but in a way I often interpret as gimmicky or juvenile. I've still YET to see Life of Pi, but everyone I talk to who has seen it speaks so highly of the film, in ways far from juvenile and gimmicky. Obviously it is unfair to compare two completely different mediums, but since both live within stereoscopy, the question is: Do small 3D gimmicks hurt the big picture?

http://www.toyin3d.com/