CES 2010 Eyes On: Nvidia 3D Vision Kit

If CES 2010 could be summed up in one word, it would be 3D. Sony had some games demoing in 3D and Microsoft had Scrap Metal on display with its old school red and blue 3D glasses. Nvidia is coming though for PC gamers with its 3D Vision Kit. I dropped by Nvidia’s booth to see how its 3D experience compares to consoles.

Nvidia was demoing Avatar: The Game across three screens that appeared slightly split when viewed with the naked eye, but magically merged when I put on its 3D glasses. Unlike Sony’s 3D glasses that somewhat fit over my personal glasses, Nvidia’s wouldn’t quite fit over them. They slid down my face to point where I had to tilt my head back in order to see the full screen.

The visuals were like that of any other company’s attempt at 3D gaming. The moving characters slightly pop out at the screen while the foliage kept my attention most of all. When the character moved through a grassy field, blades of grass gently graced my eyes as though I could touch it. Falling from really high places is also more devastating when seen in 3D.

Sometimes I would take the glasses off to get a better sense of how big of a difference 3D makes. I would occasionally see flashes of brown and white lights before the 3D image returned to normal. It only lasted for about a second but it did throw me off for a bit.

In order to run Nvidia’s 3D software you must have a 3D ready monitor and a PC with a 200/100 Series, 8 Series or 9 Series GeForce graphics processor. Nvidia’s 3D Vision Kit is available now and costs $199.

Read [Gamertell at CES]