Meant to be Seen 3D
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Meant to be Seen 3D (MTBS3D, also called MTBS) is a website and discussion community concerned with stereoscopic 3D gaming and immersive technology. Neil Schneider founded it in 2007. In a 2015 interview, he described its original purpose as bringing together gamers to demonstrate demand for better 3D displays and game support.[1] Its forums hosted early development discussions about the Oculus Rift, alongside stereoscopic display, software and do-it-yourself projects.[2][3]
Origins and stereoscopic gaming
The site's early work combined consumer discussion with developer education and game testing. An April 2007 announcement described MTBS as an advocacy and certification group covering stereoscopic technologies, including LCD shutter glasses, polarized and autostereoscopic monitors, head-mounted displays and projection systems. Its game certification used Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels, with games that did not run reasonably well left unrated. Members were offered a stereoscopic 3D programming guide and technical support forums. The same announcement identified Schneider as president and CEO, named Dave Polcino as an advisory board member, and described iZ3D's sponsorship through an unrestricted education grant.[4]
MTBS also gathered opinions about stereoscopic entertainment. Its December 2008 U-DECIDE announcement described separate online surveys for gamers without 3D equipment and experienced stereoscopic 3D users. Each survey contained 26 multipart questions covering subjects such as hardware expectations, barriers to adoption and game support. The announcement explicitly presented the findings as preliminary and stated that the surveys would remain open until 1 January 2009.[5]
The SIGGRAPH 2009 final program listed Schneider, representing Meant to be Seen, as moderator of "The Masters Speak: Game Developers Weigh in on True 3D Gaming". The listed panelists represented Electronic Arts, Crytek and Blitz Games Studios.[6] Consumer education remained part of the site: its 2011 buying guide organized videos around 3D basics, living-room displays, PC gaming and mobile devices, including shutter-glass, polarized and glasses-free display options.[7]
An August 2012 announcement described MTBS as the consumer arm of the S-3D Gaming Alliance. It publicized an iGO3D research competition using Battlefield 3 at Fan Expo Canada and identified Schneider as a project director. It described the competition as a way to investigate competitive play in stereoscopic 3D.[8] York University's contemporary funding notice described a collaboration between universities and game companies to study comfort, effectiveness, audio and how stereoscopic viewing affected gameplay.[9]
Forums and early Rift development
The forum directory separates general VR and AR discussion, non-commercial open-source research and development, physical interaction hardware, and stereoscopic entertainment. Display and software sections include 3D televisions, monitors, glasses and projectors, as well as driver settings and legacy support. These sections provide context for the site's combination of consumer troubleshooting and experimental hardware discussion.[2]
On 15 April 2012, Palmer Luckey, posting as PalmerTech,[10] opened the thread Oculus "Rift" : An open-source HMD for Kickstarter. He described an HMD kit with separate display and optics modules and asked members for help with field-of-view illustrations, logos, a campaign video and reward ideas. Replies offered graphics, CAD work and branding advice. On 17 April, John Carmack, posting as JohnCarmack, suggested asking the display-board manufacturer about higher refresh rates; Luckey replied about his discussions with the manufacturer.[3]
Carmack's 17 May 2012 thread, "A day with an Oculus Rift", gave a detailed report on a test headset loaned by Luckey. He discussed display input and power problems, optical crosstalk, field of view, image warping, head tracking, pixel visibility and slow pixel response. He also described cable stiffness, a warm display board near his forehead and the need for more nose relief. Luckey replied with changes that could address several of these issues. The exchange concerned a prototype and proposed kit, so its observations describe that development stage rather than the later commercial Rift.[11]
Related projects
MTBS provided pages and discussion space for software projects as well as its own community resources. The forum directory groups Vireio Perception, FreePIE and Minecrift under "MTBS Supported Projects".[2]
| Project or resource | Documented relationship with MTBS |
|---|---|
| Vireio Perception | MTBS hosted the official website and documentation for these VR drivers. The November 2013 description of version 2.0 explained that they added stereoscopic rendering and head tracking to existing games and were then limited to DirectX 9. It distinguished this approach from native VR support.[12] The project's repository directs support questions to MTBS forums. Its version 4 README describes a later modular architecture and says headset support is outdated.[13] |
| FreePIE | The project's own documentation links its official forum to MTBS. FreePIE is a programmable input emulator for bridging input devices, with control schemes implemented through scripts based on Python syntax.[14] |
| Immersipedia | The forum directory described Immersipedia as MTBS' community wiki for immersive subjects including VR, AR and 3D, and invited members to contribute.[2] |
Website maintenance and image sharing
In March 2020, Schneider announced a website and forum upgrade, a new logo and a move of registration to the forums. He also reported that rebuilding downloads and republishing material were still unfinished.[15] An April announcement reported restoration of the forums' stereoscopic image functionality. Members could upload cross-eyed images to the gallery and embed them in posts using the stimg BBCode.[16]
References
- ↑ Kent Bye (2015-04-17). "#126: Neil Schneider on building a critical mass of 3D gamers with the Meant to Be Seen Forum & The Immersive Technology Alliance". Voices of VR. https://voicesofvr.com/126-neil-schneider-on-building-a-critical-mass-of-3d-gamers-with-the-meant-to-be-seen-forum-the-immersive-technology-alliance/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Meant to be Seen - Index page". Meant to be Seen forums. https://www.mtbs3d.com/forum/index.php. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Oculus "Rift" : An open-source HMD for Kickstarter". Meant to be Seen forums. 2012-04-15. https://www.mtbs3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14777. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "“Meant To Be Seen” (MTBS) Announces First Advisory Board Member!". Meant to be Seen. 2007-04-02. https://www.mtbs3d.com/about-us/1849-meant-to-be-seen-mtbs-announces-first-advisory-board-member.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Video Games the Biggest Winner of 3D Customer Demand". Meant to be Seen. 2008-12-02. https://www.mtbs3d.com/about-us/1870-video-games-the-biggest-winner-of-3d-customer-demand.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "SIGGRAPH 2009 Full Conference Final Program" (PDF). ACM SIGGRAPH. 2009. p. 46. https://history.siggraph.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2009-Final-Program.pdf. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "MTBS’ 2011 3D Buying Guide". Meant to be Seen. 2011-11-28. https://www.mtbs3d.com/articles/editorial/12750-mtbs-2011-3d-buying-guide.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "First of its Kind iGO3D Battlefield 3 Research Competition at Fan Expo Canada". Meant to be Seen. 2012-08-20. https://www.mtbs3d.com/about-us/press-room/13142-first-of-its-kind-igo3d-battlefield-3-research-competition-at-fan-expo-canada.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "iGO3D Funding Announcement". York University Perception Lab. https://wiki.eecs.yorku.ca/lab/percept/projects%3Aigo3d%3Aigo3dpress. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ Palmer Luckey (2022-04-15). "10 Years of Oculus". The Blog of Palmer Luckey. https://palmerluckey.com/10-years-of-oculus/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ John Carmack and forum participants (2012-05-17). "A day with an Oculus Rift". Meant to be Seen forums. https://www.mtbs3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14967. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Welcome to Vireio Perception 2.0". Meant to be Seen. 2013-11-25. https://www.mtbs3d.com/vireio-perception-open-source-drivers/13608-vireio-perception-summary.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Vireio Perception v4". GitHub, cybereality/Perception. https://github.com/cybereality/Perception. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "FreePIE: Programmable Input Emulator". FreePIE project. https://andersmalmgren.github.io/FreePIE/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Welcome Back!". Meant to be Seen. 2020-03-25. https://www.mtbs3d.com/articles/news/22124-welcome-back.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Stereoscopic 3D Forum Abilities Are Working Again!". Meant to be Seen. 2020-04-01. https://www.mtbs3d.com/articles/news/22151-stereoscopic-3d-forum-abilities-are-working-again.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.