London, July 23 : A camera that can take three-dimensional photographs and videos is set to go on sale in Britain in September.

The camera, which promises to "revolutionise the world of photography", will allow families to view beach balls leap out of their holiday snaps, and watch their children''s play in full 3D, without the need for any glasses.

The gadget was unveiled by FujiFilm, the Japanese film and camera company, on July 22 in Tokyo.

The camera is expected to cost about 570 pounds and will be sold in high-end department stores.

The FinePix REAL 3D W1 camera looks like a normal digital camera, but it has two lenses and two sensors, which take an image of the foreground and the background of any picture.

According to Theo Georghiades, the digital product manager at FujiFilm, a processor within the camera then blends the two images together to create an "image that jumps out at you".

People can see the image in a number of ways. They can either view it on a 2.8-inch screen on the back of the camera, or they can buy a special 8-inch digital photo frame that can display the videos or pictures. This special viewer will cost about 390 pounds.

Consumers can also email their images to a laboratory in Japan, which will manually print the photographs out on lenticulated paper.

It will produce an image some people will remember from the 1970s, when breakfast cereal companies included 3D cards of cartoon characters on the special, thick, lined paper inside their boxes.

The FujiFilm model is the first digital 3D camera, and as per Georghiades, it would transform the camera market.

"At first, because of the price point, it is likely to be popular just with people who have to have the latest gadget and those with large disposable income," the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

"But our engineers in Japan are confident that 3D is the way forward. It''s going to revolutionise the camera market," he said.

Three-dimensional technology has taken off in the cinema this year, with a number of successful animated films being shown in the format, including Ice Age 3 and Coraline. Toy Story will be re-released later this year in 3D.

"3D works very well in the cinema, but I am doubtful, especially at nearly 600 pounds, cameras will take off. But they are certainly great fun," Tom Dunmore, editor of the gadget and technology magazine, said. (ANI)