14 DAY TRIAL // Sony's head of internal 3D development, Mick Hocking, has defended 3D entertainment in front of the recent accusations that it is damaging to the eyes of watchers and causes severe headaches to those exposed to the effect.
Nintendo has been receiving a lot of flack recently from various media outlets which claimed that its new 3DS handheld console, which features glasses-free 3D technology, has been causing a huge amount of eye sores and headaches in new owners, thus resulting in a lot of devices being returned to stores.
Both Nintendo itself as well as a prestigious Cambridge professor debunked these reports, saying that 3D ill effects are uncommon.
Sony, another proponent of 3D entertainment through its PlayStation 3 console and Bravia 3DTV lineup, has also decided to defend the genre, saying that, if done right, 3D images can be as comfortable to view as regular 2D ones.
"Firstly, this is much less of a problem than many people imagine," said Hocking to Edge magazine, via CVG.
"For example, just wearing a pair of reading glasses will cause a much larger decoupling of your focus/convergence than a typical stereoscopic image will generate. Even so, in many stereoscopic images, the subject is placed close to the plane of the screen which makes the image as comfortable to view as a 2D image. We always ensure that the separation of focus and convergence in our games is set within a comfortable range."
Hocking says that Sony is advising its internal studios to provide games with a virtual slider, which enables players to adjust the 3D effect to their liking.
The Sony executive goes on to emphasize that the 3D effect is observed differently by each human being, but, in its experience up until now, the company rarely came across anyone who couldn't perceive 3D.
Sony's PlayStation 3 is set to receive a lot of quality titles with 3D support, including SOCOM 4, Resistance 3, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One or Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, throughout the year.