Sony‘s full steam ahead with making sure that this year’s World Cup comes to us in glorious 3D. “Glorious” may be a stretch, but if I can see things like this goal and this goal in 3D, well, horray for everything. Not that I have a 3D TV or anything, but maybe I’ll find me a nice sugar daddy before the tournament kicks off. One can dream!
So yeah, Sony is working closely with FIFA and its TV partners to make sure this 3D World Cup goes off without a hitch. To that end, Sony’s experimenting with new, less expensive cameras that I’ve never heard of, like the P1.
The sport itself is causing some headaches. FIFA mandates that soccer fields, known as “pitches,” be at least 100 meters long by 64 meters wide—so, around 6,400 square meters. 3D cameras, as they exist today, aren’t so great at zooming in. So Sony has to figure out how to film such a giant field in a compelling way.
If you don’t have a 3D TV in time for the tournament, Sony will produce a Blu-ray movie, in 3D, about it. I recall seeing a movie/documentary about the 2006 World Cup, and it was top-notch, probably just as good as that Zidane documentary. Probably more interesting to the average person, too.
It’s all falling into place: Sony tricking out the pitches with the proper cameras, 3D networks about to be launched… all we need now is someone like DirecTV or Comcast to say, “Yes, we will have ESPN 3D in time for the World Cup.”
Note to Comcast: that would be such a coup for you guys. Do you know how much “good publicity” you’d get if you were among the first providers to offer 3D ESPN? Well worth it, I think.