Market Research Survey References 'iPod3D'

Several MacRumors readers have alerted us that they recently participated in an online market research survey in which respondents were asked to identify how familiar they were with a variety of iOS devices and other portable devices. Among the devices presented to respondents was an "iPod3D", which was accompanied by the following description:

iPod3D, which plays movies in 3D and requires special 3D glasses and just became available to buy recently

No such product has of course been released, and third-party market research companies almost certainly have no inside knowledge of Apple's product plans.

There does, however, appear to be growing consumer interest in 3D functionality, and some reports have suggested that Apple may be working on such technology. Last month, Japanese blog Mac Otakara reported that a component supplier has been rumored to be producing at least small quantities of glasses-free 3D displays for Apple to potentially use in a future iPod touch. According to the report, the device would use a combination of head-tracking functionality with the device's camera and orientation-sensing features such as the gyroscope to offer a three-dimensional user experience.