It is becoming increasingly more likely that Nintendo is using Sharp's parallax 3D tech for its upcoming handheld, the Nintendo 3DS.
The 3D display tech allegedly used in Nintendo’s new DS system has been researched by tech firm Sharp for nearly twenty years, official documents show.
Key to Sharp's parallax 3D system is how the technology can be turned on and off at the flick of a switch - a core feature which Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has now confirmed will be used in the upcoming 3DS handheld.
In a recent interview Iwata said that the 3DS “will be easy to turn off the 3-D function on the new machine, allowing people to play games, with or without 3D.”
The quote effectively shows that Sharp's parallax 3D tech has been chosen for the device.
Develop recently published documents outlining Sharp’s parallax 3D tech. The illuminating research paper on 3D parallax barrier displays – republished here – says that the 3D technology can be used in a number of applications “including 3D games, amusements and image capture”.
The 3DS is set to be shown at next month’s E3 in Los Angeles, before going on sale sometime in the fiscal year “through March 2011.”
In an interview with Forbes, Iwata did not go into details about other functions - such as anti-piracy tech - that will be implemented in the new handheld, but confirmed that the device will fight against a more piracy-tolerant market.
"We fear a kind of thinking is become widespread that paying for software is meaningless," he said. "We have a strong sense of crisis about this problem."