3D

3D Forever! In honor of a friend

Why 3D is making a comeback in 2022 (Part 3: digital 3D cameras and viewers)

Next to me, the person who has posted the highest number of comments on 360 Rumors is… Francois Beaulieu (380+ published comments)!  Here’s why you ought to know about him.

Francois is a photographer and 3D enthusiast.  Some of you might recognize his user name from the comments (FrancoisB), or from one of his very well-received articles here on 360 Rumors.  As for me, I have the honor of knowing him not just as a fellow 360R community member and colleague, but also as a friend.

I first noticed Francois because of his frequent comments on my posts.  In responding to his comments and emails, I noticed that he was quite headstrong and never backed down.  In the fires of our friendly debates, a friendship was forged.

I also found we had a shared passion for 3D.  He even persuaded me to create a separate category of articles for 3D. Whereas I was cynical and resigned that 3D would forever remain a small niche, Francois was always optimistic and saw signs of 3D’s resurgence just around the corner.

Last year, Francois offered to write a series of articles on 360R.  We noticed that he had problems embedding photos, which he figured out was because his PC was still running Windows 7 (!).  He said he planned to buy a new PC but he was feeling weak from long COVID.

Unfortunately, it turned out that it wasn’t long COVID.  It was cancer.

He shared his diagnosis with me and I hoped for the best for his recovery as he continued working on his articles.  (Did I mention he was passionate about 3D?)

Incidentally, it was because Francois shared his diagnosis with me that I decided to get my first health checkup in many years, and in that checkup, my doctor diagnosed me with moderate depression.  The medication the doctor prescribed has since helped me a lot, and so Francois probably saved my life.

As for Francois, in December, he got the news from his doctor that he was not getting better and would probably pass away before Christmas.  Such is Francois’ passion about 3D that even as he shared this dire news, he enthused (read: nerded out) about a new prototype 3D camera for which he was advising the manufacturer.

Despite his illness, Francois was feeling great, so I wondered whether he would beat the odds and recover. After all, there are occasionally miracles that prove doctors wrong.

After the new year, I got a pleasant surprise – an email from Francois.  He has been testing the new 3D camera and was impressed by it. And on top of that he was feeling excellent.  I was rooting for him to recover.

As recently as last week, he told me he was feeling strong and he continued testing the 3D camera.

Then yesterday, Francois told me that he felt weak and that he was sleeping all the time.  His blood test showed that he would not survive to the weekend.  He let me know that he would be getting medical assistance for the last time tomorrow Feb. 2 at 11am.

Some people become our friends because we grew up with them.  Or they were our classmates, our neighbors, or our co-workers. I shared neither time nor space with Francois, and so the bond of our friendship is not limited by time or space either.

Godspeed my dear friend, from all of us and me, your 3D comrade-at-arms.  See you in 3D.

Read Francois’ articles here:

VR180… then and now

Why 3D is making a comeback in 2022 (part 1: a brief history of 3D cameras)

Why 3D is making a comeback in 2022 (part 2: a brief history of 3D viewers)

Why 3D is making a comeback in 2022 (Part 3: 3D in the digital era)

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