3D Mapping Projection Could Change Our Movie Experience Forever

Just when you thought those dumb 3D glasses enabled the ultimate movie experience, someone comes along and changes everything. The focus for any new movie technology is to immerse the viewer in the movie as much as possible. When we wear 3D glasses, we feel as though we are somewhat within the movie, and we have an easier time immersing ourselves in it. 3D mapping projection could possibly come to change our perception of movie immersion forever.

I wrote an article a couple days ago about how projection mapping could come to change fashion in a way that I don’t think anyone could have expected. Now with the technology wide open for improvements, refinements and tinkering, there is plenty of innovation going on within this area of technology.

The power of 3D mapping projection lies in the way the smart projectors work. With a CPU strong computer, a whole room could easily become the setting of a smoking gunfight, a car chase or even a completely awesome and futuristic user interface. You would ultimately become a part of the script as a prop, and the characters in the movie would interact with you. There is so much potential within this area, and it is exciting to see what innovators and developers are doing with the technology at the moment.

An impressive demonstration is brought to us by Drawlight Studios. I think their progress is beyond what anyone could have ever imagined. Their 360 degree 3D mapping projection system was unveiled in Florence at the ANTIconforme exhibition, and you have to see it to believe it. The projectors are able to completely transform the surface of any 3D object into whatever pre-rendered graphics the creator chooses to project on it.

It’s instant, and with a little bit of tinkering and innovation, I am sure the system can become smart enough to recognize the audience in a movie theater and project a landscape or scenery based on the people watching the movie. This will increase the immersion the viewer feels even more when watching a movie in 3D. Add to that the 4D and maybe even the 5D movie format being developed as we speak, and you have a movie experience no one could have foreseen a few years ago. Anyone up for a scary movie?