If You Think Instagram Is Intimidating, Wait Until It’s In 3D
Facebook has rolled out limited 3D features, and a new app may push the concept even further
Imagine sharing not just a photo from your next vacation, but an interactive model of the beach itself, one that other people can “walk” through and explore from every angle. That’s the future that Display.Land, a new Android and iOS app, wants to bring to your phone. And it’s one that social media giants like Facebook have been working toward for a while.
Facebook first dipped its toe into the 3D-sharing pond in late February, when it rolled out a feature that allows some users with select Samsung and Google phones to create 3D versions of their photos. It isn’t true 3D because the original photo doesn’t actually contain any depth information. To achieve a 3D-like effect, Facebook instead uses machine learning to estimate how far an object is from the camera and cuts the picture into “slices” that can move independently. It’s similar to how movies that are shot in 2D can be converted to 3D, only done automatically.
Facebook’s solution is a clever way to fake depth on images taken with a single camera sensor. But dual-camera phones — which are becoming more common — can improve the process. Algorithms can examine the small differences in…
