GAME CHANGED: I didn't care about 3D images or VR cameras – until I saw what Canon is doing with them

Don't care about 3D or VR? Neither did I – until Canon showed me what it's doing with the technology at the CP+ 2026 show in Japan. And I've honestly gone from being indifferent to genuinely being excited – and that's in large part due to how Canon has democratized this kind of imaging.

For starters, you don't need a special camera, lens or headset any more; thanks to an incredibly innovative implementation of Canon's Dual Pixel wizardry (yes, the same tech that powers your Dual Pixel autofocus) you can take a regular photograph on a standard EOS camera and lens and turn it into a 3D image.

This is just one of the multiple ways Canon has developed VR; take a look at my quick guided tour video below, which gives you an easy-to-digest overview of the company's exhibits being shown off in Yokohama:

Canon EOS VR

It starts off with Canon's EOS VR ecosystem – which will probably be the setup you're most familiar with, as it requires specific VR lenses and a headset in order to fully immerse yourself into the spatial video that is captured.

It's built around Canon's stereoscopic lenses: the full-frame Canon RF 5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye (compatible with the EOS R5, R5 Mark II, R6 Mark II, R6 Mark III, C400, C80 and C50), along with the APC-C tag team of the RF-S 3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye and the RF-S 7.8mm f/4 Dual (both comparible with the EOS R7, R50 and R50 V).

I had the opportunity to try the latest showcase of the technology, which involved interacting with multiple animal scenes involving dogs chasing a ball, cats going nuts over a catnip lollipop, a hedgehog being a bit less dynamic and an owl being fed.

It's pretty cool to experience, but ever cooler when you consider that Canon is the only brand that offers these kinds of creation tools. The fact that dual-lens, same-sensor outfits like this are available to consumers is a grossly underappreciated fact.

MReal x Dual Pixel 3D

This is where things get really clever, because it enables you to create 3D images without any dedicated 3D or VR hardware. No special glass, no special goggles, just a regular Canon body and lens – all thanks to the marriage of Canon's MReal (mixed reality) and Dual Pixel 3D.

Dual Pixel 3D is an evolved version of the technology I saw at last year's CP+, which uses the dual photodiodes of Canon's sensor technology to map the distance between the camera and subject in order to create a spatial image.

As you can see in the GIFs below, the image can be fully interacted with in all three dimensions. I tried this using a computer touchpad on a standard screen, and it's pretty eye-opening to consider how this kind of interaction could enhance your experience.

We've all spun around 3D models of products on ecommerce websites, in order to get a better idea of how goods look from all angles, but what if you could use the same tech to interact with photos of your pets or family members? To that end, Canon even had a portrait booth set up to demonstrate the potential next generation of family photos.

MReal x Volumetric

Finally, I experienced Canon's MReal tech combined with its volumetric video advancements. If you're unfamiliar with volumetric capture, Canon first showed it off at CES 2021 and it was also rolled out at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Canon's CP+ 2026 exhibit married the two technologies with what I can only describe as a real-life version of Nintendogs – the animal companion videogame that took the world by storm on the Nintendo DS console a couple of decades ago.

There was an empty doggy playpen full of toys – but it was only empty until you held a pair of Canon's MReal glasses in front of you, whereupon a couple of pooches were spatially mapped within the area and started playing and performing tricks.

All three implementations of the technology were pretty mindblowing – and gave a better idea of exactly how it can go beyond just being an interesting tech demo to being something that genuinely enhances the imaging experience. Which, famously, is a hump that everyone from Oculus to PlayStation VR is still trying to get over.

I'm fascinated to see where this tech goes next – and, as I said in my hands-on with the Canon Analog Concept Camera, my hat if off to Canon for being so bold in trying new things, beyond just churning out the same cameras and lenses that every other manufacturer makes.

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See what else is happening at CP+ 2026, along with the best Canon cameras and best Canon RF lenses for non-VR photo and video.