Allow me to set the scene.

It’s December 8, 2011 and the 5th season and 11th episode (“The Speckerman Recurrence”) of The Big Bang Theory. Below is a portion of dialogue between the guys (Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard) and Leonard’s childhood bully, Jimmy.

Jimmy: Okay, here it is. I have this great money-making idea. I just need a gear head to get it to the finish line.

Sheldon: Technically, Howard’s the gear head. Leonard’s just a dime store laser jockey.

Leonard: What’s the idea?

Jimmy: This is just between us, right?

Leonard: Right.

Jimmy: Okay. What do you think about a pair of glasses that makes any movie you want into 3D?

Raj: That sounds amazing. First movie I’m watching, Annie.

Howard: How exactly would these glasses work?

Jimmy: How the hell should I know? That’s why I need a nerd.

Leonard: I don’t think something like that’s even possible.

Jimmy: Aw, come on, you can figure it out. You’re like the smartest guy I’ve ever known.

Sheldon: The smartest? All right, you know, I may not have a firm grasp on sarcasm, but even I know that was a doozy. Leonard, you can’t live in fear of this man forever.

Leonard: Sheldon, I got this.

You know who does “got this,” to some degree?

James Cameron, apparently.

“I’m going to push. Not only for better tools, workflow, high dynamic range (HDR) and high frame rates (HFR) — the things we are working toward. I’m still very bullish on 3D, but we need brighter projection, and ultimately I think it can happen — with no glasses. We’ll get there.”
–Avatar Director James Cameron

Mr. Cameron was being honored at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Mr. Cameron was receiving his membership to this organization.

Imagining 3D movies without the necessity for 3D glasses is something that people have been thinking about and hoping for. The next step after watching 3D movies without 3D glasses would, naturally, be allowing moviegoers to watch any film in either 3D or 2D. This is where the dialogue above from The Big Bang Theory comes into play. This venture would combine the technology James Cameron is projecting and then incorporate interested (key term) movie directors to take that subsequent giant leap in innovation (not in existence…right now). The next question is whether movie directors would want to film a movie this way, if it becomes possible? This part of the equation is still in the countless questions phase, but it doesn’t seem completely impossible after Mr. Cameron’s statement/implied progress above.

That notion, even if just a notion at this point, is still encouraging.

For the geniuses (cough cough the writers and scientific advisors) on The Big Bang Theory, the insanely cool leap in 3D technology was seen as practically impossible back in 2011. While this surreal tech doesn’t yet exist today, it may be available in some version in the future. Incredibly, Mr. Cameron just may have revealed that he’s discovered the “secret sauce” for the mind-blowing innovative feat of enjoying 3D movies sans 3D glasses. Despite the fact this invention may still be a few years off from reality, that near future time table is exciting nonetheless.

After all, some of the greatest inventions in human history started with the wildest, craziest ideas imaginable.

And we can’t wait to see this one.

Literally.