[The Acer Triton 500 SE is a notebook PC with a new design, a new look, and a new functionality, and is the first of its kind in the Acer family of notebook PCs [The Acer Triton 500 SE is a notebook PC with a new design and a new look, and is the first of its kind in the Acer family of notebook PCs [The laptop is being showcased as the first example of what Acer hopes to achieve with its SpatialLabs technology, and prototypes will be distributed to developers enrolled in the company's new SpatialLabs developer program for the Unreal Engine

It remains to be seen how or if this new focus on glasses-free 3D will show up in other Acer products, but the technology is clearly feasible enough and could be cool enough to merit inclusion in other Acer laptops in the future

Acer's new SpatialLabs prototype laptop is a modified version of one of the company's ConceptD laptops: instead of a single webcam, two stereo cameras cover the laptop's display, which work together to track head and eye movements

This tracking is aided by the laptop's special screen, which features an LCD lenticular lens optically bonded over a 4K 2D display panel to display accurate 3D images The screen can switch between 2D and 3D display modes, and in 3D mode, the laptop produces a stereoscopic 3D effect by shining a slightly different version of the image on each eye

Ideally, Acer claims, this would allow 3D models to "pop out" and rotate in front of the eye in real time, potentially saving creators time while working with 3D objects

Acer's SpatialLabs prototype laptop comes with the SpatialLabs Experience Center, which is essentially a dedicated launcher for the company's new SpatialLabs suite of apps

Along with several tutorials, the Experience Center also includes the SpatialLabs Model Viewer, which allows users to import and view most major formats of 3D objects in 3D Fusion 360 and Blender, as well as an add-on that allows one-click import of files from existing 3D creation tools such as Fusion 360 and Blender

There is also SpatialLabs Player for viewing side-by-side video in stereoscopic 3D and Acer's own SpatialLabs Go tool for rendering side-by-side content in stereoscopic 3D Blender Here is an example of Acer using Blender to set up a full-screen side-by-side view of a scene and rendering it as a real-time 3D image using SpatialLabs Go [When working in Maya, SpatialLabs has a tool called PiStage for Maya that allows users to edit content on a connected 2D monitor and view the stereoscopic 3D rendered in real time If this works well, it could save 3D creators working in Maya a great deal of time in rendering 3D scenes to evaluate their work

For now, these prototype 3D laptops are only being distributed to those who register for Acer's new SpatialLabs Developer Program for Unreal Engine, and even then only in three-month increments

Registrants (applications close June 30) are encouraged to use these prototypes while working with the Unreal Engine, which SpatialLabs already supports Since the technology is intended to be used for a year, it is likely that further iterations and releases of SpatialLabs' technology will follow [Acer's new SpatialLabs prototype appears to be the best glasses-free implementation to date

At this time, SpatialLabs technology will not be integrated into Acer's laptop products if this is not overwhelming, as it is primarily targeted at Unreal Engine developers and other content creators However, if Acer endorses SpatialLabs and creates a compelling example of how it can improve everyday laptop use (sure, there are 3D movies and games, but what about 3D navigation and interfaces?), this could be a game changer for the company It could be