Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology has created this prototype physical 3D display that works a little differently than the other 3D tech out there. Those bright spots aren't LEDs, but a complex array of lenses arranged on top of LCDs, forming the sides of a cube. By a kind of optical parallax trick, and something called "integral photography," it makes it look like there's an object in the box. Best of all, gCubik is a naked-eye tech and can be viewed simultaneously by a group of people. The team's working on making it wireless and higher-res, and even hopes to commercialise it within three years for use in design, education or games devices. You can see it in person at the SIGGRAPH show in August. [Fareastgizmos]

Tags: 3d | displays | gadgets | gcubik | lcds | prototype | science