3D stereoscopic enabling methods for a monoscopic application to support 3D stereoscopic imaging

Abstract

The present invention addresses the problem of converting existing 2D applications into 3D stereoscopic compatible applications using a 3D enabling solution. This enabling solution results in a 3D stereoscopic software application with the following characteristics and benefits: provides stereoscopic features using a familiar interface; allows a large existing base of 2D applications to be converted to 3D; reduces development time and cost since core features are already provided by the existing 2D application; makes it easy to create 3D stereoscopic content using well known tools; and ease of display using a variety of 3D viewing methods. The present invention is realized using a combination of 3D enabling methods. These methods include: Plug-In; Compiled or Interpreted program language extension; Com/Active-X/DLL/Library Control; External Application; Custom Hack or Patch; Platform modification. By combining these methods, a more unified method of converting a 2D application into a 3D stereoscopic application can be achieved. The apparatus and method of implementation of the 2D to 3D enabling in conjunction with a display device may be accomplished using an article of manufacture, computer program product program or program storage device having a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for converting existing 2D applications into 3D stereoscopic compatible applications.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.