Manchester United's Wayne Rooney in 3-D could prove a dimension too far

There was none of that when Sky delivered the first 3-D broadcast of a sporting event. Though that may have been largely because Chelsea weren't involved. Nine pubs across the country had been allocated the privilege of watching Arsenal against Manchester United for an experimental first outing for the technology that commentator Alan Parry promised was "a new dimension" in sports broadcasting.

And what joys the clash promised: Andrei Arshavin's bobble hat bursting out of the screen, Wayne Rooney's spittle apparently shooting out towards the viewer, Sir Alex Ferguson's nose in all its multi-faceted glory. At the Slug and Lettuce pub, not far from the Arsenal stadium, an upstairs room had been set aside for the revolution. To facilitate the view, everyone was wearing special sunglasses.

A pub full of people in shades is an unusual sight, even in Islington. In the corner was what appeared to be an ordinary television. But its ordinariness was undermined the moment it was looked at through the glasses. Suddenly it acquired a strange, other-worldly depth and field. Suddenly we appeared to have been transported a mile down the road to the Emirates itself.

Before the game, an advert ran of what sport would look like in 3-D. Fists flew in our direction in the boxing, golfers walked down tunnel-like fairways, the whole room swooned as a rugby ball bounced apparently out of the screen towards us.

Even the graphics were enough to make you invest in the technology on the spot. The team line-ups floated ethereally above the pitch, that swooshing Premier League symbol that presages a slow-motion replay had many ducking in their seats. When the players emerged from the dressing rooms, and Darren Fletcher and Park Ji-Sung seemed to walk into the room to join us, the astonishment was at its height.

Once the game got under way, however, it was clear the swoon factor was dependent on the camera angle. The stock shot, of play in the semi-distance, taken from the stands, looked little different from a standard television picture. Where the technology came into its own was in the close-up.

"I'm a little bit undecided," said Tom Williamson, a regular at the pub for Arsenal games. "Some shots are incredible, some make me feel a little sick. Would I spend money on 3-D? Probably not."

This may well be the way we all see things in the future. Coinciding with 3-D televisions making their way into the shops, Sky is committed to the technology, rolling out a full programme of events in the spring. It is likely to become a commonplace, at least of the pub-watching experience.

How fundamentally it will change the fans' experience, however, is open to question. When Thomas Vermaelen scored, the Arsenal fans in the pub celebrated their participation in broadcasting history by excitedly chanting "we're going to win 4-3".

Perspective is clearly not something that comes with those 3-D glasses.