From: mogal@deadhead.asd.sgi.com (Joshua Mogal) Subject: INDUSTRY: SGI support for virtual reality developers Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1993 21:49:36 -0800 ------- Forwarded Message From: cyberoid@stein.u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi Subject: SGI formal support for virtual reality developers? Date: 7 Feb 1993 07:29:52 GMT Organization: WORLDESIGN, Seattle NNTP-Posting-Host: stein.u.washington.edu At the Meckler VR 93 conference in San Jose, CA, last year, SGI was given an annual award for doing the most among manufacturers to advance virtual worlds (in some general sense). SGI has a VR evangelist and its machines are often first thought-of by those who remember their use by VPL Research, once the leading firm in the VR field. But what actually is the firm doing to support virtual worlds developments? Does SGI have formal programs of support for developers of virtual reality applications? Are there firms in the field that receive its support specifically for developments in this area? I'm planning to run something in sci.virtual-worlds dealing with the VR-oriented activities of various manufacturers and what they have done and are doing for developers in our field. I'll be glad to hear from SGI. Thanks. Bob Jacobson Moderator sci.virtual-worlds ------- End of Forwarded Message Well, actually, SGI is starting to turn up the heat on VR. Here's the basic scoop: Silicon Graphics is a computer manufacturer. We create visualization systems with the most flexible and powerful digital media capabilities in the somputer industry, combining advanced 3D graphics, digital multi-channel audio, and video in a seamless environment. Our systems serve as the core of Virtual Reality systems, performing the simula- tion, visualization, and communication tasks. In such a role, it is critical that the systems support powerful computation, stereoscopic, multi-channel video output, and fast I/O for connectivity to sensors, 3D input devices, and networks (for multi-participant virtual environ- ments). In support of this role, Silicon Graphics has engaged in the development of the following software and hardware products: Hardware 2 - Onyx RealityEngine Announced January 25th, the Onyx line of graphics supercomputers incorporate a new multi-processing architecture, PowerPath2, to combine up to 24 parallel processors based upon the Mips R4400 RISC CPU which operates at 150MHz. I/O bandwidth is rated at 1.2GB/second to and from memory, with support for the VME64 64- bit bus, operating at 50MB/second. Onyx systems may utilize up to three separate graphics pipelines based upon the new RealityEngine2 graphics subsystem. This new graphics system offers 50% higher polygon performance than the original RealityEngine introduce in July of 1992. RealityEngine2 is rated at 2M flat triangles/second and 900K textured, Gouraud shaded, anti-aliased, fogged, Z-buffered triangles/second. - MultiChannel Option The optional MultiChannel board enables users to take the frame buffer and send different regions out to different display devices. Thus, a single 1.3M pixel frame buffer could be used either as a 1280x1024 display or as four 640x512 displays. The MultiChannel Option provides up to six separate outputs. - Field Sequential RGB IT'S HERE!!! Crimson RealityEngine and Onyx RealityEngine2 can now support Field Sequential RGB video devices. Developed by Tektronix, these displays are as small as 1" in diagonal and take the Red, Green, and Blue signals sequentially rather than in parallel. Thus, a 60Hz non-interlaced RGB display would have to be fed at 180Hz to get each pixel the full RGB complement each 1/60th of a second. These new displays hold great promise for head-mounted displays and are just becoming available. RealityEngine systems are the only graphics systems on the market capable of driving these new displays with full-performance 3D imagery. Formats are now operating to support the following resolutions: - 640x480 resolution, 60Hz refresh, Non-Interlaced - 1280x960 resolution, 30Hz refresh, Interlaced At 1280x960, this format represents the highest resolution RGB display available on the market for HMDs. Software - IRIS Performer Introduced with RealityEngine in July, 1992, IRIS Performer is a software toolkit for the rapid development of high- performance simulation and VR applications. The Performer software handles database traversal, culling, and rendering to shield the appli- cation developer from having to have excessive knowledge of any particular hardware architecture in order to achieve maximum performance from that hardware. Performer is constantly being updated with features relevant to VR application developers. For those who wish to use the IRIS Inventor object-oriented graphics toolkit to develop 3D objects for virtual environment applications, a converter is being developed to take inventor format objects and translate them into Performer objects. - Database Navigator Still a research project at SGI, the Database Navigator is a cyberspace viewer of hierarchical databases. Much like William Gibson's view of cyberspace, databases can be viewed as towers and floating discs through which one can maneuver as if in an airplane or magic carpet. This is being explored as an advanced user-interface concept for more intuitive interaction with massive data spaces. Third Parties As always, Silicon Graphics interfaces with a large number of VARs, OEMs, and independent software and hardware vendors who more directly address the various markets. Standard programs like the Developers Program (including the annual Developers Forum) and the IRIS Partners program are designed to enhance access to technical and marketing resources within SGI. Special assistance for VR developers using IRIS Performer can be made available...please contact Josh Mogal at the e-mail address below for more information. Silicon Graphics is the unqualified leader in core systems for Virtual Reality and intends to hold onto that position well into the future. Joshua Mogal Virtual Reality Market Manager Advanced Graphics Division Silicon Graphics Inc. 2011 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View, CA 94039 tel: (415)390-1460 fax: (415)964-8671 e-mail: mogal@sgi.com