Manchester scientists create bedtime 3D fun

November 26th, 2008

(PhysOrg.com) -- The University of Manchester has teamed up with Manchester based licensed textile company Character World and brand management firm Brand 360 to produce an innovative range of 3D Spider-Man duvet covers and bed linen.

The new product range – recently featured on BBC’s Newsround - uses an innovative digital processing and printing technique, which incorporates both 2D and 3D imagery. This means that when viewing normally a striking Spider-Man image can be seen, but when 3D glasses are worn, the third dimension instantly becomes apparent.

The design technology, developed by Textiles Research at the University of Manchester’s School of Materials and Tri-D Textiles – a company started by academics at the University - will feature exclusively in the Autumn/Winter Argos catalogue.

Professor Robert Young, The University of Manchester’s Head of the School of Materials, said: “This has been an excellent opportunity for the University and Tri-D Textiles Limited. We’ve broken dimensional shackles to create dynamic imagery on textiles. We’ll be working with Character World and Brand 360 to bring more innovations to the market.”

Danny Schweiger, director at Character World, said: “This new product range is a first for Character World and I’m confident our innovative design will fly off the shelves. It looks fantastic without the glasses and even better with them when the final dimension is revealed. We are planning to apply this technique to other characters that we license in the near future.”

Source: University of Manchester