On August 1, Australian company Euclideon posted a video to YouTube which presages their technology as being the future of not just the gaming industry, but the world of graphics in general. Dubbed the “unlimited detail” method, have a look at the 7-minute-long video below which explains the method and how their polygon-to-atom converter aims to make game developer’s lives easier and reshape an entire graphics industry:
Did you catch the part where they said, “…in one cubic meter of dirt, we have more polygons than you will find in any game that doesn’t use procedural generation.”?
Naturally, there are plenty of skeptics and for good reason. Year-in and year-out, we see incredibly impressive graphics demos from companies like NVIDIA that showcase unprecedented levels of realism, yet when it comes to implementing these graphics in a real-time game setting, those impressive demos remain just that; impressive demos. Likewise, remember when Sony released the PS3 and they stood upon the highest of mountains proclaiming the unlimited potential of the cell architecture? Yeah, that kind of turned into a disappointment pretty fast where using it for a gaming platform is concerned. Are we dealing with a similar scenario here?
After all, we’re not given any specs or any idea as to how much horsepower is required to achieve these “unlimited detail” graphics. And if we’re talking running this type of technology in a gaming capacity, then you have to start adding in everything else that makes a game a powerhouse, such as audio, AI, game-play, networking, animation/in-motion objects (moving trees, water, dynamic lighting, etc.), physics, and so on and so forth. Granted, with efficiency gains of around 100,000, that leaves plenty of room for taking games as they are now and giving them a MASSIVE face-lift without affecting — or maybe even enhancing — performance. But that’s if those gains are based on a 1:1 (or less) ratio where modern-day hardware is concerned.
With that said, I’m certainly willing to give Euclideon the benefit of the doubt. The presentation given in the video makes sense, and though these types of gains in technology don’t happen very often, it seems we’ve been given enough to go on for the time being to at least stay tuned. If true and successful, this technology stands a good chance at becoming the baseline for all future iterations of gaming graphics — be it PC, console, hand-held, or any other industry that uses polygonal technology.
Lastly, it appears they have more than just graphics up their sleeve, as hinted in their video description:
We also have another piece of technology that isn’t graphics, but does something game related that’s also pretty clever, but we’ll keep that secret for now.
At the very least, Euclideon appears to be an ambitious company with forward-thinking ideas. What do you think about them, though? Does this seem like just a bunch of hot air to you or do you think Euclideon has really pulled off a marvelous feat of graphical innovation? Let us know your thoughts below!
-Stephen Chapman
SEO Whistleblower
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