When it comes to S3D systems, people always get all worked up about the eyewear. If only we didn’t have to “don goofy headgear” (one of these cliché words makes it into just about every 3D article), then the S3D experience would be a good one. Just this morning on MSNBC, a newscaster reporting from CES listed that Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung would be showing 3D displays, and excitedly highlighted that the Panasonic system was without eyewear, as if that were some sort of utopia.

What everyone seems to forget is that most people wear some sort of eyewear—sunglasses, reading glasses, prescription glasses—every single day, without complaint, and even as a fashion statement. Generally, we are happy to wear glasses.

Crummy 3D experiences, eyestrain and headaches are NOT the fault of eyewear alone, but of the overall S3D system, which generally does include eyewear as a key component. But there is also an S3D-capable display involved, as well as software, user interface, and properly generated S3D content (e.g. 3D movies, games, etc.).

It is possible, right now, to design stylish, comfortable eyewear that are completely unobtrusive to the S3D experience, to the point where viewers forget they’re wearing them. But unless they’re designed as a key component of an overall S3D system—hardware, software, and content—that is created to deliver impeccable stereoscopic quality, the goofy glasses will continue to be a scapegoat for uncomfortable S3D viewing experiences.