3D YouTube Videos? Put on Those Funny Glasses!

A Google employee's work on an online "stereoscopic player" (as a side project) came to light on YouTube's help forum, since the obvious implication is that we'll soon be watching (and able to create) 3D videos -- yup, just like those blockbusters at your local gigaplex.

The 3D project caught the attention of some astute bloggers:

* Search Engine Roundtable: "YouTube Testing 3D Videos"

* NewTeeVee: "Now Playing on YouTube: Experimental 3D Videos"

Users are able to choose from one of ten 3D viewing styles (e.g. “Red/Cyan Glasses: Full Color"). Uploaders can enable the view mode by using the tag “yt3d:enable=true.”

Here’s a snippet from an Idaho farmer’s market from a YouTuber who’s been fiddling with the feature. (NOTE: Double-click on each of the embedded videos below to see their original 3D versions, with scrolldown options: Red/Cyan glasses, Amber/Blue glasses, Green/Magenta glasses, etc..)



For the full-fledged techie treatment, try this:

Depth-Dependent Halos: Illustrative Rendering of Dense Line Data



For something prettier, try the 3D experiments of this Japanese YouTube creator, especially "3D Waltz of the Flowers":



Now all you videojournalists need to put on your thinking caps and determine how this technology is going to best help you tell your stories.