At Ceatec 2009, a starring role for 3D

NICT's MSens technology: a practical use for 3D.

(Credit: Scott Ard/CNET)

TOKYO--In the exhibition halls of a gadget trade show, the things that normally jump out are the wacky outfits the female booth attendants are forced to wear, the ma new balance ww811 mmoth wall installations of TVs, and long lines for booth swag.

For better or worse, the enduring image of Ceatec 2009 has been the sight of suit-clad men waiting in twisting queues for the chance to don a new balance cw442  pair of plastic 3D glasses for a five-minute TV demonstration. There are two reasons for that: because the major TV makers here couldn't miss out on the chance to show their prototype models of this trendy techno new balance mr1123 logy, and because there wasn't really much else going on this year.

There isn't yet a final, official count, but this year's show, which started Tuesday and runs through the weekend, so far seems far less new balance mr740  crowded than in years past. Attendees could have been kept away by the sluggish economy, or the inclement weather, including a tropical storm that hit Tokyo midweek. Either way, the general vibe at the Makuhari M new balance mr790 esse has been much more subdued.

In the past Ceatec has been known as the event where gadgets destined for store shelves showed up en masse, the last stop on the trade show circuit before they're packaged  new balance wr768 and ready for consumers during the yearly holiday sales period. However, the 2009 edition was shorter on practical products and very low on new stuff.

As at IFA in Berlin last month and at the Consumer Ele new balance mr1223 ctronics Show in Las Vegas in January, 3D was the dominant theme. Panasonic showed its very-close-to-being-ready 3D plasma TV here this week--this time, though, on a 50-inch set, a size that's far more practical  new balance 977 than the 103-inch behemoth used at expos earlier this year. The 50-inch model, plus some sizes larger than that, will be unveiled along with pricing and shipping information at CES in January 2010. Sony is also read new balance 1123 ying its first 3D TV for the home, which is set to ship sometime next year, though the company wasn't specific about exactly when.

Photos: Ceatec Day 3--mascots, bling, and 3D (of course)

Fello new balance 470 w Japanese TV manufacturers Hitachi, Sharp, and Toshiba also hauled in their own 3D TV demos to the floor of Makuhari Messe, and attendees dutifully lined up to see them, but none of those electronics makers are com new balance 802 mitting to shipping 3D TVs yet, which is very telling.

Panasonic acknowledged that the standards for releasing 3D movies on Blu-ray are not yet complete, but said they will be soon, and that the company is c new balance 925 ommitted to the standards. But some of Panasonic's competitors are not completely convinced 3D at home is a sure bet. A Toshiba representative here said the company is "still waiting to see if there is demand" for 3 new balance 620 D in the home. And with good reason--it's still not clear that consumers are going to go for 3D at home just yet, both because it would mean likely buying yet another new TV and because watching those TVs requires w new balance 1223 earing very silly-looking plastic glasses with active-shutter lenses.

3D and the floating mirror
Besides TVs, Ceatec also featured other cool applications using 3D outside of the home and movie theater. new balance 659 

The Japanese government's National Institute of Information and Communication Technology, or NICT, was running a demonstration called Multisensory Interaction System (MSens), which had a line almost as long new balance 760  as many of the TV demos. In this, 3D was used to enhance reality for specific tasks. It worked like this: An image of an ancient mirror with an ornate design on one side was displayed in a monitor. The image was re new balance 622 flected onto a piece of glass in front of a user standing at the monitor so that the mirror appeared to float in front of him. But the user could then take a stylus that would allow him to "feel" the surface of the  new balance 644 mirror. As the tip moved across the bumpy surface (which in reality is being held in midair and not touching a solid surface), the stylus would rise and fall with the peaks and valleys on the mirror's surface.

< 

 p> The idea would be to use MSens for product testing, design, and possibly even learning things like surgery. NICT also brought a separate demonstration that showed surgery in 3D, making observers feel as if they w 

 ere right in the middle of an operation. It was fascinating, but also something you'd need a medical degree to use--and probably a strong stomach too.

While those have practical purposes outside of pure ente new balance 927 rtainment, it's still 3D TVs that are getting all the attention here. Sometimes, as at Sony's booth, that attention is even coming at the expense of other products. When asked why there were no organic light-emittin shop new balance g diode (OLED) TVs at its booth this year as in years past, a Sony representative said simply, "because we're focusing on 3D."

Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, 

  as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica 

 . Topics: Gadgets Tags: Ceatec 2009, 3D, Panasonic, Sony, TVs, NiCT Share: Digg Del.icio.us Reddit Facebook Twitter