Visitors to domed special-venue movie theaters have experienced the heightened sense of involvement when images are beamed onto the huge concave screens overhead. Now two computer-imaging firms are looking to bring the curved display down to earth-ultimately all the way down to our desktops.

With a price tag of $37,995, the conCAVE from Fakespace Systems of Kitchener, Ontario, is hardly an impulse purchase. But for the high-end presentation market, this immersive 2-D screen offers an alternative to true 3-D displays, which have been limited by the awkwardness of stereoscopic glasses or the expense of surrounding the viewer with screens. The Fakespace display consists of a concave screen with a silo-shaped profile. Meant to be viewed by up to 12 people at once, the screen is nearly 2 meters across and 70 centimeters deep.