Today, during the Next@Acer 2022 event, we got our first look at the company’s upcoming lineup. One of the most interesting announcements comes in the form of the Predator Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition – a glasses-free, stereoscopic 3D gaming laptop. Yep, you read that right. We’re in 2022, and companies are still trying to make 3D content a thing – but can Acer pull it off?
Can Acer bring 3D to mainstream laptop gaming with the Predator Helios 300?
While Acer announced quite a few things during its Next@Acer 2022 event, the most interesting announcement to me is the Predator Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition, a stereoscopic glasses-free 3D gaming laptop. The laptop is quite powerful, with up to an i9 CPU and RTX 3080 GPU, which is how it can drive 3D games.
That’s right – this isn’t just a laptop with 3D movie support. Acer claims that the laptop will support “over 50+ modern and classic titles at launch” with 3D.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen 3D talked about in the consumer, non-movie space, and even longer since companies have tried to make a push for 3D gaming. Acer is leveraging SpatialLabs TrueGames, which allows you to play “supported games in a 3D mode on the device, where details of the scene are brought to life.” With the technology, “rooms appear more spacious, objects appear genuinely layered, and adventures become more thrilling.” This all happens in real-time too. No glasses are required, and you won’t have to try to configure anything because SpatialLabs has dedicated pre-configured profiles for each supported game.
The 3D gaming laptop experience works by combining an eye-tracking solution, stereoscopic 3D display, and real-time rendering, which all happens on the device. The display is a 15.6-inch 1440p screen with a “liquid crystal lenticular lens” optically bonded on top of it, which is how the laptop can switch between 2D and stereoscopic 3D views.
Of course, you’ll find the standard I/O available here that we’ve come to know on modern laptops, including Killer DoubleShot Pro and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, HDMI 2.1, Thunderbolt 4, and two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports.
The Acer Predator Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition 3D gaming laptop will be available in Q4 of this year and has a starting price of $3,399.99. For the rest of the Next@Acer 2022 launches, check out the company’s official blog.
9to5Toys’ Take
Why Acer is trying to make 3D gaming a thing again, I have no idea. Nintendo tried, and ultimately failed, with the 3DS, and we really haven’t heard, or seen, much of the technology again since. It’s nice that you won’t have to wear glasses and that the profiles are pre-built for supported games.
The Predator Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition has the ability to be a beast of a gaming laptop with DDR5 support, an i9 processor, and RTX 3080. But with a Q4 launch window, will those specs be outdated before the laptop even makes it into the hands of consumers?
In the end, do PC gamers want to play titles in 3D? I guess only time will tell how the experience is. I, for one, am not quite sure where I land on the idea of gaming in 3D on a laptop in 2022.
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