A New Vision for 3-D Takes Shape in PA

The human head contains two eyes. When we step into the real world, the ability to use our eyes to perceive length, width and depth is as essential as our ability to hear our surroundings on the street or in the forest, to use touch to perceive the difference between a furry kitten and a brick wall.
More than half a century after the advent of flimsy cardboard glasses with one red lens and one blue lens, the presence of three-dimensional images in the escapist world of movies and TV has remained a novelty. A gimmick.

But that's changing. Hollywood is buzzing about the potential 3-D has to enhance the experience of watching movies and TV shows, and this buzz is not lost on the general public.

If you haven't seen James Cameron's 3-D blockbuster Avatar you've surely heard about it. And if you've stepped into an electronics store lately you might have noticed HD television sets that show images in 3-D -- jaw-dropping for their price if nothing else. Companies willing and able to supply the current demand for 3-D products are finding plenty of opportunity, and Pennsylvania is playing an increasing role.

In March Shamokin-based D/E Associates announced a partnership with New Jersey firm 3D Glasses Global and U.S. Polarizer, based in Massachusetts. Plans called for D/E to hire 100 employees by the end of the year to manufacture 1.5 million 3-D glasses each month. Kirk Lysek, a partner with 3D Glasses Global, says the partnership came about a after a business associate of his from the theater industry picked up on the new wave of 3-D movies that are showing up in theaters. Lysek says he came across D/E, an injection-molding company, and approached company executives about making the frames for 3-D glasses.

Then there's Berks County's American Polarizers Inc., which, sort of by accident, fell into the 3-D eyewear industry about 15 years ago. Since it was founded in 1960 as a manufacturer of sunglasses, the Reading company has evolved into a 23-employee specialty firm that makes windows for corporate jets, polarizers for medical equipment and cards with images specially designed to show customers how polarized sunglasses can reduce glare for better vision. That's just a few of the products it makes. President Nick Bentley calls American Polarizers' mind-boggling array of wares "kind of a reflection of my brain." But Bentley likes it that way. A diverse product line means his company isn't dependent on one thing being successful.

American Polarizers also makes high-end 3-D glasses and 3-D lenses that clip onto standard glasses. The company started manufacturing them for people who used them for work, like architects who needed to see computer images in 3-D while designing a building. The company already had experience making sunglasses, Bentley says, so making 3-D glasses wasn't much of a stretch.

While the company does make filters for 3-D movie projectors, Bentley says many of American Polarizers' 3-D products are designed for applications that go beyond the silver screen.
Bentley estimates the company makes 2,000 pairs of 3-D glasses a month. The production line is running 40 hours a week now, he says, but workers were on 60-hour weeks a couple of months ago. He's not sure where all the glasses ended up because they are sold to distributors, he says, but the uptick in demand came when 3-D movies started taking over the cineplex.

"Obviously, people were buying them to take them to the theater," he says.

American Polarizers is embracing its place in the market. About four weeks ago it released new 3-D glasses with a lens that shows a clearer, brighter picture than some of the lenses that are popular now. But Bentley's wary of putting too much energy into that sector until it's clear what role 3-D will play in the future. His company is more equipped to handle smaller orders from companies that need specialized products designed quickly, he notes, than large-scale production of one item.

D/E started making 3-D glasses in April and is now producing between 50,000 and 75,000 each month, Lysek says. Those numbers aren't where he'd like them to be, he says, and so far none of the glasses have been sold in the U.S. About 95 percent of the glasses have gone to movie houses overseas and a few have gone to a Canadian firm that provides them for players of 3-D video games and viewers of shows in amusement parks.

Lysek acknowledges that getting into the 3-D market wasn't the easy path he envisioned. But there is potential for some large orders coming into the company, although he couldn't say who those orders might come from.

Industry experts say the future of 3-D is bright, but unclear.

"The current belief is it's definitely not a fad in the cinema," says Matthew Brennesholtz, senior analyst at research and consulting firm Insight Media. "Technology has come a long way."

Brennesholtz says some questions have not been answered. Will the public embrace the 3-D TV sets that all the big consumer technology companies are making now? Will businesses pay for 3-D advertising?

And Dr. Jason Leigh, director of the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago, points out that no matter how awesome movies, TV shows or video games look in 3-D, people want to be entertained by good stories. If a movie isn't worth seeing in 2-D, the 3-D version isn't going to be popular either, he says.

Leigh says that in perhaps five years, technology will have advanced to allow people to watch 3-D on their home TVs without wearing special glasses. As those sets become more common in people's living rooms, 3-D applications will become more prevalent and less expensive for professional uses like allowing scientists to visualize molecules and explore beneath the surface of the earth.

To put it simply, 3-D is how humans were meant to see.

"We have two eyes in our heads." Leigh says. "Evolution decided to put them there for a reason."

---

Rebecca VanderMeulen is a freelance journalist based near Downingtown. She watches “The Daily Show” every night and wonders what Jon Stewart would look like in 3-D. Send feedback here.

To receive Keystone Edge free every week, click here.

---

Photos:

American Polarizers President Nick bentley inspects a pair of their 3D glasses and frames in their shop prior to shipment

Bentley inspects a square plate of thier 3D opitcal glassing

Bentley inspects a pair American Polarizers' 3D glasses against the optical glassing

Bins holding the American Polarizer's 5x5 glass linear Polarizer plates wait for packaging at  their shop in Reading

All photographs By Brad Bower