Making 3-D Glasses Fashionable

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/11/08/making-3-d-glasses-fashionable/

November 8, 2010, 10:51 AM ET

By Lauren Goode

3-D glasses are going in the direction of high fashion.

In recent days, both Gucci and Calvin Klein Inc. unveiled high-style 3-D glasses with price tags of $225 and $180, respectively. Now eyewear and apparel maker Oakley Inc., is diving into the third dimension with the release of a $120 3-D version of its popular Gascan model of sunglasses.

The glasses can be used for watching 3-D content on 3-D TV screens in the home and in the theater, except on IMAX and Dolby 3-D Digital Cinema screens.

But while the Oakley glasses combine style with 3-D technology, the glasses aren’t entirely multi-purpose – meaning consumers might not want to use them in both the 3-D theater and, say, on the ski slopes.

“You can use them outdoors, but they’re not optimized for outdoor use,” says Scott Smith, category manager for Oakley’s 3-D Optics. “We optimize our standard Oakley sunglasses for use outdoors. The light transmission in 3-D glasses is different. You’re going to get 40 to 50% light transmission with 3-D glasses.”

Mr. Smith says he believes initial buyers of the glasses will be consumers already familiar with Oakley glasses and early adopters of 3-D technology who are seeking “solid fit and function” from 3-D glasses.

The Oakley 3-D Gascan glasses are expected to be available later this month through retailers such as Sunglass Hut, Zappos.com, and Oakley’s own retail stores and website.

A limited edition version of the Oakley 3-D glasses, pegged to the release of the upcoming Disney film “TRON: Legacy,” was announced late October and will be available this month for $150.

The company says it spent two years designing the 3-D glasses, working closely with both RealD Inc., a maker of 3-D cinema technology, and DreamWorks Studios to ensure optical quality. The glasses are designed for what has been termed “passive” 3-D viewing, which involves seeing two different displays, with the glasses providing a filter for what each eye sees. “Active” 3-D displays send alternating images to the left eye and right eye, and a built-in shutter in the glasses creates the 3-D image for the wearer. Most of the 3-D TVs out on the market right now are using active 3-D technology, but Oakley says more passive screens are expected to hit the market soon.

“Passive” 3-D glasses cost about $5 to $20; “active” glasses can cost upwards of $100. “The price point of the glasses is a hurdle in this,” John Batter, president of production at DreamWorks Animation SKG, said recently in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, and pointed out that old-fashioned 3-D glasses, such as the kind used during the technology’s inception, were very cheap.

In the meantime, some manufacturers are hoping to eventually move beyond glasses altogether. Companies like Toshiba Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. working to bring more glasses-free, or autostereoscopic, 3-D TV screens to market.

http://online.wsj.com/video/digits-3-d-glasses-go-high-fashion/3B4AE893-4779-4BDB-8E20-126672F08B44.html