The official 3-D broadcaster of the Rugby World Cup, 3DLive, brought its demo truck to the Octagon yesterday as part of a nationwide tour promoting its 3-D screenings of games, which will be shown at venues throughout New Zealand.
The 12m demo truck contains a 3-D screen which shows a short promo of footage from the Six Nations Rugby tournament. The promo is a taster of what people can expect from the 3-D screenings of key World Cup games, which will be shown at Regent Theatre, the Edgar Centre, and Hoyts cinema in Dunedin.
Event manager for 3DLive Simon Walker said the screening of two semifinals, the bronze final and the final would give fans another option as to how they watch the Rugby World Cup.
Watching games in 3-D could sometimes give a better view than stadium seats, Mr Walker said. It was almost like "having front row seats all the time".
Viewer Andrew Clattenburg said seeing the footage in 3-D was similar to being in the stadium. Seeing the matches in 3-D would be "the next best thing".
While Mr Clattenburg had tickets to two World Cup games, and planned to watch the final at his local pub, he said he would consider watching the semifinal matches in 3-D after visiting the 3DLive truck.
Another viewer, Saul Ross, was surprised the quick action of rugby did not become blurred when shown in 3-D. He said it would be a good alternative, but still thought there was "nothing like the atmosphere of a stadium crowd".
Self-described "rugby head" Jim Finnerty said the quality of the 3-D footage made it seem the action was "right in front of you".
He was less impressed by the yellow-rimmed 3-D glasses.
"I would like a bit more trendy pair of glasses," he said.
The 3DLive truck will be in the Octagon again from 9am-9pm today.
- Tegan McKnight
