3D desktop a stunner

By PETER GRIFFIN

Two computer industry veterans and executives of Deep Video Imaging have put $1.3 million into the Hamilton company and will spearhead efforts to raise at least $10 million more in the US.

DVI's Silicon Valley-based president and chief executive, David Hancock, has stumped up $400,000, and "R. J." Siegel, the company's chief technology counsel, is investing $900,000.

Both are past senior employees of Apple and involved with a collection of IT companies worldwide as investors and advisers.

The pair committed the money after chairman Stephen Tindall's decision to increase his own investment in the 3D screen developer by an undisclosed amount.

Hancock said the fundraising target was at least $10 million by the end of the year. With Siegel and DVI's founder, Gabriel Engel, he is on the venture capital trail in the US demonstrating DVI's patented multi-layer display (MLD) technology to investors.

That technology was on show in Auckland last week for the Herald. Which is just as well - the screens must be viewed "in the flesh" to be fully appreciated.

Plugged into a regular PC, the 3D screen enabled an application as simple as Microsoft Excel to be layered behind a webpage, allowing, for example, web surfers to compare real-time stock prices with their own historical data at the same time.

But it was in specialist areas that the screens really showed their use. A display of terrain marking on a map could be separated from battle lines and markings, removing confusion in dangerous situations.

In a medical application, data and heart-monitor signals were layered over a video feed of an operation. CAD (computer-aided design) programs took on a new dimension.

Hamish Macleod, Deep Video's vice-president of worldwide sales, said DVI's screens did not give an illusion of depth but instead used two separate image planes - two pieces of glass in effect - to create depth.

He said the human brain could handle only three colours on a screen without a level of confusion setting in, whereas several layers of information could be identified by the brain on one screen.

With several manufacturing agreements already signed, McLeod said DVI's sights initially were on the military and markets, the latter of which embraced LCD displays in the early 1990s when they sold for as much as $10,000 each.

But DVI's real aim was to replace normal 2D desktop screens with 3D upgrades, which meant allying with PC makers. The screens would cost twice as much as their 2D opposites initially, but the price would fall as more screens sold.

Other opportunities ranged from in-car navigation systems to handheld computers, cellphones and digital wristwatches.

Macleod said DVI had aligned itself with a major Japanese games company and saw potential in the market there for Pachinko - a mix of slot machine and pinball. The machines were replaced every three to six months when their novelty wore off.

Hancock believes he can help to make DVI the next Apple. He said DVI was aiming to break even by the end of next year as royalties from manufacturing deals were generated.