3D glasses for NeuroPub will only work with iPad and iPhone 4

It turns out that it's not possible for an app to detect and use the external video connector on an iPhone 3GS, which is really a pitty. Apple only allows apps running on iPad and iPhone 4 to use the external video.

I have spent some time to really get this to work on my iPhone 3GS. Now I really want an iPhone 4. Oh well, I can still try the iPhone app on my iPad for this specific purpose. I should add that the 3D glasses work just fine on my iPhone 3GS when using them to watch movies from the iPod app. It's just that they cannot be used from the NeuroPub app. For that, you need an iPad or an iPhone 4.

3D stereo graphics from your iPad - it works!

After writing the previous post I couldn't resist so I had to make an iPhone app to see if I could get true stereo graphics from the iPhone to my Vuzix 3D glasses. I still have some problems getting it to work on my iPhone. It refuses to recognise the glasses as a second screen. I should download the latest version of the iPhone OS (iOS) to see if the problem persists.

Luckily, it works beautifully on my iPad, even though it's an iPhone app. It's really cool. By making the brain a little bit transparent it's possible to see half way through the brain. The stereo aspect does make it easier to realise how deep inside the brain the activations are (or whatever you are observing).

This technique is not limited to the 3D glasses. If you own an LCD-TV with support for 3D stereo, it will hopefully support the side-by-side stereo format that the app is using. Then you can connect your iPad to your TV and watch the 3D brain coming out of your screen.

The image below shows what it looks like. The side-by-side technique means the left part of the screen goes to your left eye and the right part goes to your right eye. You can actually see the effect yourself by looking at the picture below if you are good at crossing your eyes. Try look behind the screen to overlap the two brains and you should get a third brain image in the middle in stereo.

3D stereo graphics from your iPhone

This year is the year of 3D stereo TVs. In 2009 we went to the movie theatres to watch movies like Avatar in true 3D, and now we can buy our own 3D LCD TV to watch 3D movies at home. It's an interesting development for brain image visualisation. I played with this a couple of years ago by using active shutter glasses for CRT-screens.

One thing that has drawn my attention is the kind of 3D glasses with built in LCD-screen that you can connect to your iPhone or iPad. They are actually meant to be used for watching movies from your iPhone, but they also support 3D stereo graphics.

It's actually possible to send 3D stereo graphics from any iPhone app to these kind of glasses, given that the developer has implemented such a feature. I actually bought a pair just to play with the idea. They are quite cheap. The pair you see in the image is the Cinemizer Plus from Carl Zeiss. They only cost about €300.

I actually bought the Vuzix iWear instead, which is about the same price. I believe that the Cinemizer Plus might be better so I'm thinking about buying these too in order to compare. I have only watched 3D YouTube videos from my iPhone so far, but some of them are quite impressive.

What do you think? Would you get a pair of these if the NeuroPub app supports them for 3D volume rendering? Think of being able to watch your statistical results in true 3D stereo from your iPhone. Please feel free to comment or vote on the right side of the blog.

Aiming for release in late August

The plan was to release the app within a couple of weeks after the HBM conference, but I didn't get the time. Now I'm aiming for a release this month instead. The first version will be quite simple, but I have many interesting ideas for upcoming versions. More about that later.