Japan's 3D market takes off, but it comes with a health warning

Flip through any lifestyle magazine, click on a gadget website or peer into an electronics store and you’ll soon grasp that 3D cinema and TV are the inescapable hot products of 2010. But could the Brave New World be challenged by expert warnings that the extra dimension simply isn’t good for us? The caution from Japan’s National Consumer Affairs Center comes in the same week a buyers’ survey shows shoppers are snapping up 3D equipment far faster than expected.

Market analyst BCN’s study reveals sales of 3D TV sets in July accounted for 1.3 percent of the total market in Japan and 3D-capable recorders almost 3 percent -- a serious result for any new, expensive technology so early in its lifecycle.

However, the consumer watchdog says it received enough reports of people falling ill after or during a 3D viewing, that it had to issue a health warning.

The report details cases of motion sickness, double vision, eye pain and even disorientation lasting several days among people watching 3D moving images. Although the number of cases isn’t large at this stage, the Center still advises people to be aware of the risks associated with the technology, to stop watching if they feel ill, and that parents should pay particular attention to kids watching "Toy Story 3(D)" and its like both in cinemas and on 3D home theater systems.

With Japan at the head of the tech-buying pack as usual, Western countries are sure to follow which means a lot more people are going to find out how they react to 3D. If manufacturers insist on telling us we want 3D TVs, they'd better be prepared to supply sick bags too.