***Hot Topics
Intel Invests in Real3D
(January 14)
Lockheed Martin Corporation announced it has spun off Real 3D, Inc. as an
independent corporation, with Lockheed Martin retaining majority
ownership. The company also stated that Intel has purchased a 20 percent
minority interest in the new company. Under terms of the formation
agreements, Intel will have a non-voting observer on the board of Real 3D
and the two companies will continue to collaborate and co-develop
graphics technologies and products. Financial terms were not revealed.
Real 3D and Intel are currently co-developing an integrated 3-D/2-D/video
graphics chip, called the Intel740, for mainstream desktop PCs. The
Intel740 is set to debut in the first quarter of 1998 - expect the
announcement at the end of February.
www.intel.com
www.real3d.com
Microsoft and SGI Team on Future 3D APIs
(December 17)
In a striking announcement Silicon Graphics Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
disclosed they have formed a strategic alliance to jointly define,
develop and deliver new 3D APIs as part of a project code-named
"Fahrenheit." The Fahrenheit project will create a suite of application
programming interfaces (APIs) for the Microsoft DirectX multimedia
architecture on the Windows operating system and the Silicon Graphics
UNIX-based platform. Fahrenheit will incorporate Microsoft Direct3D and
DirectDraw APIs with Silicon Graphics complementary technologies such as
OpenGL, OpenGL Scene Graph and OpenGL Optimizer.
The Fahrenheit project will produce the following three components:
Fahrenheit low-level API will become the primary graphics API for both
consumer and professional applications on Windows. The Fahrenheit low-
level API will evolve from Direct3D, DirectDraw and OpenGL while
providing full backward compatibility with applications and hardware
device drivers written for Microsoft Direct3D and functional
compatibility with Silicon Graphics' OpenGL technologies.
Fahrenheit Scene Graph API will provide a higher level of programming
abstraction for developers creating consumer and professional
applications on both Windows and Silicon Graphics IRIX operating systems.
This API will evolve from Silicon Graphics' current Scene Graph API. The
Fahrenheit Scene Graph API provides high-level data structures and
algorithms that increase overall graphics performance and assist the
development of sophisticated graphics-rich applications.
Fahrenheit Large Model Visualization (LMV) Extensions will be based on
the Silicon Graphics OpenGL Optimizer API and complementary DirectModel
API from Hewlett-Packard Co. and Microsoft. They will operate in
conjunction with the Scene Graph API. The large model visualization
extensions add functionality that will allow the interactive manipulation
of large 3-D models such as an entire automobile. The Large Model
Visualization API adds functionality such as multiresolution
simplification to the Scene Graph API so developers can easily write
applications that will interact with extremely large visual databases.
This technology will also be designed to enhance legacy applications with
new large model visualization capabilities.
The Fahrenheit APIs will be developed in conjunction with software and
hardware development partners. Microsoft and Silicon Graphics are
committed to an open design preview process during which input on the API
designs will be solicited from all interested parties. In particular,
Microsoft and Silicon Graphics will work together with other industry
leaders - including Intel Corp. - to evolve the Fahrenheit APIs.
Specifically, Intel will work with Microsoft and Silicon Graphics on the
Fahrenheit low-level API to ensure maximum support of the Intel Pentium
II processor.
Microsoft and Silicon Graphics engineers will begin development on
Fahrenheit APIs and extensions immediately. They will deliver new APIs,
DDKs and Software Development Kits (SDKs) in phases over the next two and
a half years.
Phase One will be the delivery of the Fahrenheit Scene Graph and Large
Model Visualization (LMV) in the first half of calendar year 1999 for
Microsoft Windows and Silicon Graphics IRIX. More details will be
released on the LMV will be released in the springa of 1998.
Phase Two will be the delivery of the Fahrenheit low-level API in the
first half of calendar year 2000 on Microsoft Windows only. For the
Windows platform, Microsoft will be the direct source for licensing,
certifying and distributing the SDKs and DDKs. For the Silicon Graphics
IRIX platform, Silicon Graphics will be the direct source for licensing,
certifying and distributing the SDKs and DDKs. This API will be derived
from D3D and OpenGL and it will contain features not present in either.
The low level API will also only work on Intel processors. OpenGL 1.1
will be the last version to have a software only version and with time
Fahrenheit will assume the roles which OpenGL and D3D have had.
The scene graph API is on top of the low-level API while the Large Model
Visualization API is a part of the Scene Graph API. It is intended that
the API will be extensible and all are COM based. Thus, hardware
companies will be able to add extensions.
Jay Torborg, Director, Graphics and Multimedia, Windows OS Division,
Microsoft showed a 3D user interface that was described as "...for a future
version of Windows."
www.sgi.com/fahrenheit/
www.microsoft.com/directx/
WAVE Comments
This is a major win for Microsoft. The battle over OpenGL vs. D3D for
games has passed into history. When Kurt Akeley, Co-founder, Chief
Engineer of SGI states in the news conference that game developers should
write for D3D in all future games, the OpenGL game developers are left on
their own. However, the impact of this announcement is much larger than
just a game API, it is about the underlying OS infrastructure for 3D. SGI
is clearly putting major resources behind Windows NT and the price they
paid to get full Microsoft support is reflected in this agreement. A
question which has yet to be answered - what did SGI get? On the surface
it is a role in shaping the future of the 3D API set that will dominate
the large volume computing platforms. Yet, this is obviously a secondary
role compared to the position it has played in the past. What remains to
be seen is how SGI leverages its relationship with Microsoft and its
technology and market position in the workstation space into the high
volume Windows NT market. SGI must make significant changes to shift its
business model to compete in the PC market. One point remains clear, in 3
or 4 years OpenGL will be seen as legacy and in that time frame SGI will
have undergone radical changes.
The 3D GUI shown in the demo has the potential of significantly changing
the user experience and making 3D an essential component of very PC and
workstation. Watch Microsoft for more developments here as 3D becomes
integral to the operating system.
4th Wave Publishes Article on Technology Based Out-of-Home Entertainment
4th Wave, parent to the WAVE Report, has published an article on
Technology Based Out-of-Home Entertainment in the latest issue of IEEE
Computer Graphics and Applications, Vol. 18, No.1, January 1998, pp.24-
28. In the article John Latta estimates the market size and describes the
factors that have led to such a disappointing market. The article begins:
"Whether hopping into a F-16 fighter aircraft to fly combat missions, a
Formula One race car to compete against great drivers, or a space ship to
explore the universe, pretend to be what they're not has a magnetic
attraction for most people. Mixing technology with fun seems a logical
and viable way to make money - why then is the industry littered with the
business failures and companies struggling to survive? The reasons prove
complex, but at the core technology has little to do with the success of
out-of-home entertainment..."
www.fourthwave.com
Wave Issue 9734 1/22/98 Article 1-01