While digging through an old trunk, I came across the ViewMaster my parents gave me when even the thought of a "computer age" was scoffed at. The amazing thing about this contraption was that it combined two images into one, so you'd see them in three dimensions, affectionately known as 3D.

Now, imagine taking this technology into the 21st century and developing a computer with two LCD screens that allowed you to see 3D images without wearing funky, multicolored glasses or using that old ViewMaster.

The folks at Sharp have not only imagined it, they've done it. The new Sharp Actius AL3DU notebook computer ($3,499) combines two LCD screens to give us the ability to see presentations, movies, games and photographs in 3D. No glasses. No ViewMaster. Just you and the computer.

By placing one screen in back of the other, the computer is actually projecting dual images (just like that old ViewMaster) causing objects to pop off the screen.

There is a downside. It's heavy, weighing 12 pounds. And adults may, at first, have difficulty adjusting to the screens. This, I'm told, is because the eyes have to be retrained to adapt to the 3D imagery. Children, on the other hand, should have fewer problems adapting their eyes to the technology, because they are essentially untrained.

But, once you get over the initial shock to the eyeballs, be prepared for a whole new world of computing.

Developers of the Actius see a whole market opening up for them ranging from pharmaceutical companies that need to see all dimensions when designing that next, new wonder drug to gamers, who --- until now --- have not yet experienced games like Doom3 or their sports games in "real" 3D. Even DVD movies take on a whole new life when played on this computer.

Additional features include:

• An Intel Pentium M P750 processor.
• Nvidia's new GeForce Go 6600 graphics processor with 128MB of video RAM.
• 1 gigabyte of DDR2 SDRAM, which is expandable to two gigabytes.
• An 80 gigabyte hard drive.
• A DVD dual-layer super multi-drive.
• A Gigabit Ethernet network card.
• 3D software from Tri-Def, which includes samples of photos, movies and "popouts."
• You can push a button to switch from 2D to 3D.
• A copy of Windows XP professional.

The only feature unavailable in the Actius that is found on other notebook computers is the ability for it to detect your wireless network. Developers of the notebook told me there just wasn't enough space to include that feature, which means wireless networkers will have to dig out their old network cards and pop them into the computer's PMCIA slot.

More information on the Actius can be found at www.sharpusa.com.

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