NVIDIA Gets Real With 3-D Cloud Computing

Talk about a technology innovation that packs the punch of a pair of big buzzwords. GPU maker NVIDIA and mental images, a leading provider of photorealistic rendering software, are coming together to bring 3-D visualization capabilities to cloud computing. The new NVIDIA RealityServer  is a combination of Tesla GPUs and software that can stream interactive, photorealistic 3-D applications to any PC, laptop, netbook or smart phone connected to the Web.

Company officials say the cloud-computing solution will stream photorealistic scenes for both consumer and enterprise 3-D Web applications at speeds approaching that of an interactive gaming experience. RealityServer uses mental images’ iray technology, a physically correct ray-tracing renderer that employs the massively parallel CUDA architecture of NVIDIA GPUs to create accurate, photorealistic images by simulating the physics of light in interaction with matter. Iray technology requires the horsepower of the Tesla and CUDA architecture because ray tracing is one of the most demanding computational problems, NVIDIA officials say.

While the 3-D cloud computing solution has potential for new 3-D applications for retail, architects and home design, there are also opportunities for product development teams. Automotive or aerospace engineering teams, for example, could securely share and visualize complex 3-D models of cars under different lighting and environmental conditions for design reviews and virtual prototyping scenarios.

The NVIDIA RealityServer platform will be up and running November 30, 2009.