Xpand Plug-In Adds 3D Movies, Graphics to PowerPoint Presentations

Xpand launched a $199 3D plug-in for Microsoft PowerPoint at CinemaCon in Las Vegas Tuesday that allows users to add 3D images and graphics to presentations. With the plug-in, users can embed 3D movies, pictures and graphics in PowerPoint files, the company said. The 3D content can be viewed on a computer, compatible 3D TV or a video projector that supports HDMI 1.4 3D formats, using Xpand Universal 3D glasses, the company said. The plug-in, available as a player only or a converter with player, is compatible with 32-bit or 64-bit versions of Microsoft Office 2010, the company said. According to Ami Dror, chief strategy officer for Xpand, case studies have shown that 3D content improves viewer retention by more than 30 percent over 2D.

Also at CinemaCon, Xpand unveiled the Infinity 3D system for cinemas, which the company said can support screen sizes from 30 feet to 300 feet wide, flat or curved, dome-shaped or Cinerama format, regardless of screen material. The active-shutter system includes two models of eyewear and boasts an improved contrast ratio and multi-directional synchronization for wider off-axis viewing, the company said. The basic glasses offer 37 percent transparency and a 2000:1 contrast ratio while the step-up model delivers 38 percent transparency and a 3000:1 contrast ratio, the company said. Batteries are rechargeable.

Xpand’s Infinity glasses come with RFID tags that allow theater owners to track glasses as a theft-deterrent. The new glasses have improved durability and allow cinema management to monitor inventory and usage levels in real time, Xpand said. In testing, some beta sites achieved a cost per user of less than four cents, the company said.

Xpand also announced a deal for 100 3D systems with Zhuhai China Film Service, as part of the official opening of an Xpand branch office in Beijing Tuesday. The Beijing office will help grow Xpand’s China and Asian markets and is part of a strategy to support “one of the largest and fastest-growing cinema markets in the world,” the company said. Xpand has nearly 4,000 theaters worldwide and about 200 in the U.S., Dror said.