A new startup company CubicVue, formed by inventor Michael Mehrle who has developed a glasses-free 3D technology, Randal Kleiser and other partners, seeks to apply the system to mobile devices in the near future. A long-time advocate of 3D, Kleiser, who directed 1970s films such as Grease and The Blue Lagoon, met Mehrle at a technology conference, where the inventor showed him an iPod converted to 3D and viewable without glasses.

Basically a piece of plastic with thin lines of colour that sends one image to each eye, the screen wears the glasses instead of the viewer. The technology uses a colour filter that can be embedded into handheld devices or layered over any size screen to view any stereo content.

CubicVue technology can display glasses-free 3D on a cell phone, tablet, game console, media player or other portable flat-screen device.

Kleiser is seeking business partners for the licensing, manufacturing and distribution of the 3D technology. The aim is to have an easy standalone filter product for the consumer on the market before the end of the year that could retail for less than $50.

Kleiser said that once the CubicVue technology is released, he would also like to create 3D content specifically for the portable platform. He also may monitor 2D to 3D conversion opportunities for some of his films, including Grease - which re-opens on July 8 for sing-along events in theaters.