I’m Not a Gamer, however This Stunningly Actual 3D Tech Makes Me Wish to Be

Unlike lots of my colleagues at CNET, I’m not a gamer. But an immersive expertise at CES 2026 virtually satisfied me to turn out to be one. 

“I feel like I’m hallucinating,” I stated, stationed in entrance of what seemed to be a typical desktop show, controller in hand. As I moved my character via a collection of tunnels, it appeared as if the three-dimensional imagery was pulling me in. 

I’ve by no means felt so drawn right into a digital world, and I wasn’t even carrying a headset. How was this even taking place?

The demo that hypnotized me was powered by a characteristic referred to as Immersity, from 3D show firm Leia, which makes use of spatial AI software paired with hardware that may swap between commonplace viewing and holographic depth projection. On-screen photos on a telephone, pill, monitor or laptop computer seem to leap out on the viewer, no glasses wanted. That contains video video games, motion pictures, YouTube or social media posts and even medical photos like CT scans. 

I received to see a number of of those purposes firsthand at Leia’s demo in Las Vegas, and the impressions are nonetheless lingering.

Unlike 3D immersion utilizing a headset or glasses, Leia’s tech works by monitoring your face with cameras, sending a left view of the on-screen content material to your left eye and a proper view to your proper eye. You then see the show in stereo imaginative and prescient, much like the way you view the true world. That means if somebody is standing off to your aspect (or recording the expertise on digicam), they will not essentially get the total three-dimensional impact, as a result of it is catered to the individual sitting in entrance of the show. 

Along with the gaming expertise, I watched a nature video on YouTube go from two dimensions to 3 with the clicking of a button, making the animals stand out towards leafy backgrounds. I joined a video name during which the individual I used to be chatting with and I may seemingly attain out and provides one another a high-five. (It jogged my memory of making an attempt Google’s Beam 3D video name.) And I noticed a snippet of the movie Avatar in 3D, with no need to don a pair of IMAX glasses. 

3D glasses-free shows aren’t a brand new factor. Leia, the corporate that created the Immersity characteristic, was notably behind the 3D shows in Red’s Hydrogen One telephone launched in 2018. The telephone’s lukewarm reception led to it being rapidly discontinued, with some reviewers noting the holographic show was lackluster.

But Immersity’s capabilities and wider-reaching purposes appear to be extra promising, and their impression impressed me excess of I anticipated. 

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A whole lot of 3D tech can really feel gimmicky, with topics hardly leaping out from the display. Immersity actually did really feel, properly, immersive. The multilayered impact was alluring and lifelike in a manner I did not know was potential with out glasses. 

The 3D tech is already out there on a handful of {hardware} units you should buy right this moment, together with the 16-inch Red Magic Laptop and the Samsung Odyssey 3D monitor. Products just like the zSpace Inspire and Onsor AMAD can be utilized for instructional functions like getting a 3D view of diagrams or molecular constructions, and the Barco Eonis 3D could make it simpler to decipher medical photos. 

Immersity may additionally shake up VR gaming. Leia teamed up with an organization referred to as PortalVR, which helps you to play any SteamVR recreation in your PC with no headset. Plug in a Meta Quest or Pico VR by way of USB and use the controllers to play, whereas leaving the cumbersome head-mounted gear on the desk. Immersity takes that have one step additional by making the photographs in your show come out at you, extra carefully resembling what you’d see with a headset on. Considering Meta’s VR cuts this week, possibly software program like Leia’s could possibly be another for some apps.

Personally, I’m undecided how sensible or obligatory a three-dimensional show is when I’m scrolling via TikTok or watching interval dramas, however there’s one thing to be stated about leveling up show expertise that is remained stagnant for therefore lengthy. 

It’s neat to see a real-world characteristic that feels prefer it was pulled out of a sci-fi flick. While I’m undecided what shows or screens I’d personal that would work with it, I noticed the attraction immediately.

I walked away from Leia’s demo in awe and with a brand new decision: “I’m gonna start gaming just for this.” Though I may have to attend for the tech to turn out to be just a little extra broadly out there.