State of 3d Graphics on Wireless Devices 137
An anonymous reader writes "This
Computer Graphics World Magazine article
discusses the current and future state of 3d graphics on wireless platforms. Apparently Japan is ahead of the game with a relatively standardized 3d render engine. Seems like the main use is for 3d virtual pets and the standard sort of games one might expect. What I'm waiting for is what I believe to be the next step; the one described in, oh, so many sci-fi novels... a personality for my handheld! Imagine, if you will, a
personalized avatar or something that can interact with you and perhaps assist you in your daily endevours (with a touch of attitude?).."
3d graphics?!?! (Score:5, Insightful)
Keep your 3d graphics, give me a phone that works well and consitantly first.
Re:3d graphics?!?! (Score:2, Informative)
3D graphics on your cell phone has nothing to do with service providers.
I think the point is, (Score:1)
Now I personally like a well-rounded telephone/PDA/etc (why I purchased a P800), but I could see that many would rather have a phone with better reception -- I note that my p800 is larger than my v60, and does not get as good reception using the same network in the same areas.
Re:I think the point is, 3d schmeeD (Score:1)
But, I wouldn't get caught dead playing a frickin' game on my phone anyways. BLOOP BLEEP BLOOP...
Here here! (Score:2)
Affordability, reliability, good service--THAT is what is foremost in my mind with wireless technology right now. What good are polyphonic ringtones, fancy colour screens, digital cameras, 3-
Re:Here here! (Score:1)
Well, I suppose when you can't get coverage, you at least have something to play with. Here in Tokyo lots of people play Tetris/Arkanoid/RPGs etc. on their cell phones in the subway where there is hardly any reception in the tunnels.
Re:3d graphics?!?! (Score:2)
Wait a while. USA is considerably larger than Japan.
Re:3d graphics?!?! (Score:1)
Max H-H-H-H-H-Headroom! (Score:2)
Another option would be to allow people to send pictures of their faces to their friends' phones which could be used as a skin for the avatar when talking to them on the phone. If it could lip sync to the sound and be controlled remotely (ie, the other person presses a key to make their representation smile or frown etc) then that would be real cool
Not physically possible (Score:2)
Waiting (Score:5, Funny)
What, are you nuts? A personality? What about huge bouncing boobies?
Re:Waiting (Score:1)
Re:Waiting (Score:1)
IIRC 'The Year's Best SF' (I forget which one it was, 4,5, or 7) in one of the anthologies has a short story called 'The Bicycle Repairman', and it referred to something similar to the avatar as a mook
Re:Waiting (Score:2)
Re:Waiting (Score:1)
On the other hand, if we put your idea into a pair of VR glasses, we might have a hit on our hands :^)
Re:Waiting (Score:2)
lots of people with end up with all kinds of things in their hands.
Re:Waiting (Score:1)
That's what fixed-point integer routines are for!
VirtuaGirl (Score:1)
Re:Waiting (Score:2)
Forget the handheld, thats my description of the perfect woman!
Re:Waiting (Score:1)
Great.... (Score:5, Funny)
Great. Clippy for my cell phone. Wonderful idea.
Re:Great.... (Score:2)
Re:Great.... (Score:2)
Message for you, sir!
Re:Great.... (Score:2)
Oh, it could get much worse. "Hi, you have a phone call! I notice your phone is on silent, would you like me to tell them you are occupied and shouldn't be bothered?"
Or perhaps, "Hey there, tiger, you got yourself a hot momma calling you, you studly man beast." Then promptly having your date realize what a pathetic loser you actually are and kill herself laughi
Re:Great.... (Score:2)
Even in the anti-cell-phone coffee houses I frequent, people bust a gut when she calls.
Re:Great.... (Score:1)
My GF is Japanese, and I got a custom ringtone made of this rather amusing J-Pop song. Unfortunately, in the US, nobody gets the joke
Re:Great.... (Score:1)
Re:Great.... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Great.... (Score:1)
Re:Great.... (Score:2)
Re:Great.... (Score:1)
Re:Great.... (Score:2)
btw, have you seen this http://www.microsoft.com/Office/clippy/
Why does M$ use so mouch foul language in their videos? Also, why does video 2 feature Hitler??
3D graphics on wireless... (Score:2, Funny)
I really should replace my VooDoo 1 card someday...
What they really need... (Score:2, Funny)
I'll sit this one out... (Score:5, Funny)
Let me know when I can play UT2003 on my cell phone using a 1280x1024 virtual screen that's projected straight into my retinas. Oh yeah, and wireless broadband net access of course.
Re:I'll sit this one out... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I'll sit this one out... (Score:2, Informative)
As far as wireless broadband goes, (and this is probably massive flamebait), but it does amuse me how far behind the US is compared to the rest of the world on this. Already in the UK, GPRS is enabling up to 33,6k (or even maybe 56k, I'm n
Re:I'll sit this one out... (Score:1)
Some... impressionable types might find it even harder to divorce reality from virtuality. Imagine people massacring scores of 'n00bs' before attempting a rocket jump only to realise that they are in real life and have no legs left.
Ona side note, I should be getting my three [three.co.uk] 3G mobile fone next week (my partner works for three) and am looking forward to seeing just how the downlaod speeds measure up to
Don't hold your breath for while waiting for AI (Score:5, Insightful)
The level of present 'chatterbots' doesn't even live up to their lowly title.
See www.chatterboxchallenge.com and cry for real AI
Re:Don't hold your breath for while waiting for AI (Score:1)
Not a good idea (Score:4, Interesting)
The benefit: greatly increased battery life. Even with the new-fangled lithium-polymer (and soon to be proton-polymer) technology, the full color display are batter wasters!
Re:Not a good idea (Score:2)
IMHO the B/W screen on my Palm V was better than the color screen on my m515.
Choose your personal avatar... (Score:4, Funny)
2) OpenSourceAvatar - You wanna go somewhere, go there yourself!!
Re:Choose your personal avatar... (Score:1)
"I pity the foo who tries to play minesweeper on this PDA."
Re:Choose your personal avatar... (Score:1)
PDA-phone: "RTFM!"
Re:Choose your personal avatar... (Score:2)
MSAvatar: Where does Bill want you to go today?
SolarisAvatar: You wanna go somewhere? "Go" isn't installed, build it from source.
RMSAvatar: It's "GNU/Linux"! Dammit, "GNU/Linux!"
ESRAvatar: Go somewhere before I get out one of my 32368 guns.
AppleAvatar: Go Different.
AmigaAvatar: Could not 'GO'. GURU MEDITATION A0DB863F:83FB
SquareAvatar: KUPO KUPO! LET'S GO RESCUE TERRA AND SABIN! KUPOPPO!
SbaitsoAvatar: Does it make you happy to know that Go to the store?
I'm picturing it... (Score:1, Redundant)
Re:I'm picturing it... (Score:1)
Oh wow, Avatars! (Score:3, Interesting)
Ever considered human contact? You know "IRL"
Re:Oh wow, Avatars! (Score:2)
...done imagining (Score:4, Funny)
Uhh.. (Score:2, Funny)
Is this a dream for the future, or the plot of an upcoming Disney movie..?
I won't be satisfied.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I won't be satisfied.. (Score:2, Funny)
There you have it folks. A
Would that the rest of you were so candid. Not me of course....
Re:I won't be satisfied.. (Score:2)
I'd settle for the Flatline, but Colin would be neato.
Re:I won't be satisfied.. (Score:2)
Satisfying interactions (Score:1)
If I punch the touchscreen will the avatar take damage for being such a worthless piece of s***?
Add that feature, and you can bring clippy back.
I'm sorry (Score:1)
persacom (Score:2, Funny)
Re:persacom (Score:2)
A 3D card is fine, but... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:A 3D card is fine, but... (Score:1)
3D GUIs are a joke. Not a joke, but not worth the extra dimension. It's bad enough having to sort through two dimensions of "desktop" clutter.
Of the attempts I've seen, all have been incredibly less useful than their 2D counterparts. A great way to say "wow, that looks cool" and little else.
Show me a voice controlled multi-relational interface, and then you're talking. I say "hey, show me my bank balance," and it determines the appropriate box of my checking account spreadsheet, and tells me. Now that
Re:A 3D card is fine, but... (Score:2)
Until we have wraparound screens (either really big ones or the size of sunglasses) and a way of getting our hand movements on screen, a 3d GUI is just a layer of 'irritating to get through'.
i agree completely (Score:1)
I would picture a 3D GUI, properly set up, as giving me virtually infinite "desktop space" compared with all the flat icons stacked on top of each other right now. I would love to have a single area where there were related documents were stacked on top of each other, for example. I suppose I picture something akin to my desk at work, with shelves and drawers, etc... .
As I said
I can only imagine..... (Score:1)
Re:I can only imagine..... (Score:2)
Oh, you mean communicating with those on
At last! (Score:1)
It sounds like a wonderful interface, but doesn't it ultimately come down to bandwidth?
A good 3D rendered graphic is BIG! The devices are getting more powerful, but the bandwith hasn't. But then technology does improve each day, eh?
If it's shaped like a paperclip... (Score:1, Redundant)
finally! (Score:3, Funny)
with a touch of attitude? (Score:2)
not related to the article... (Score:2)
Do you really need more reasons to be mad at your PDA?
Just give Joe a PDA that sasses back and watch as he chucks it across the room into the wall at 50 miles per hour. Actually, that'd be awesome for Palm et al--more broken pdas yields more pda replacements...
Rockman.EXE, jack IN!!! (Score:2)
(If you haven't yet played Rockman.EXE/Mega Man Battle Network, I recommend it.)
Avatat technology is sweet (Score:4, Insightful)
OpenGL is fine (Score:4, Insightful)
OpenGL is perfectly suited to 3D rendering on handelds, with the caveat that software rendering for OpenGL, which is to say, Mesa, has not been seriously optimized for this purpose. This is only because there hasn't been much manpower focussed on the job, to date. What's needed is some more thinking like this [radgametools.com].
After all, it's just a matter of programming.
Re:OpenGL is fine (Score:1, Informative)
Re:OpenGL is fine (Score:2)
Certainly, a standard OpenGL subset [khronos.org] for embedded use would be a useful thing, though not in any way essential, since straight-up OpenGL 1.4 (say) will already fit comfortably in today's relatively fat handhelds. What is essential is a software renderer that does a particularly good job on the common render paths needed for these embedded applications. There's no technical obstacle to this, it's just a lot of hard work.
3D AI on my Zaurus? (Score:2)
Re:3D AI on my Zaurus? (Score:1)
Sounds pretty damned smart to me. Now if it had opend up MSN...
Choice of personalities: (Score:2, Funny)
Or perhaps you would appreciate the "Kitt" state-the-blatantly-obvious type.
- OrbNobz
This post provides tactile feedback. Put on your PowerGlove and touch it!
This ain't no party. This ain't no disco. (Score:2)
I don't know the "Full-Bodied Characters" but I know who Talking Heads is. I'm sure David Byrne will be pleased to hear that his band is so important to the future of wireless technology.
Mobile 3D standards (Score:4, Informative)
The two main standards currently under development are OpenGL ES by the Khronos [khronos.org] group and the JSR-184 [jcp.org] headed by Nokia. If you read through the list of participating companies, you'll notice a good bit of overlap; we can expect the two APIs to play quite nicely together.
Mobile 3D hardware will also be coming probably sooner than what most people think. Some Ericsson researchers will be giving a SIGGRAPH [siggraph.org] talk on the subject ("Graphics for the Masses: A Hardware Rasterization Architecture for Mobile Phones" [brown.edu]) even if nothing more than the title is known at this time.
While all mobile devices will have to make their own compromises on functionality, battery life, weight and cost, almost all of them are capable of running 3D graphics when the software is carefully constructed. Many modern software rendering techniques are based on dynamically generated/compiled code, and the processes are very similar to what happens inside 3D hardware. As these libraries will also be fairly small, they will not add cost or weight to the devices themselves. 3D chips will be reserved to those more keen on playing games on the road.
The technology is definitely coming, now all we need to do is invent the killer application. Ideas anyone?
Jouni
Re:Mobile 3D standards (Score:2)
Jouni
MS please make on! (Score:1)
Damn, I just got a new phone (Score:2)
Not strictly wireless yet (Score:1)
Oh yeah, the yet in the subject refers to the fact that ARM devices are making the push to the wireless space in a big way.
More features I won't know how to use... (Score:3, Insightful)
3D graphics wouldn't be so hard to do in this environment, assuming they stick with the little screens and the bad interfaces. I know that my phone can actually have some pretty cool games, but the actual buttons on the phone, or the "control stick" as well, are about as accurate as using a half-chewed pretzel on an older PDA. Especially if you have fingers larger than your average six-year old.
I'd have to agree that it'd be nice to see work done on the networks. My phone has a habit of wandering out of it's calling coverage (a tower less than a mile away) if held sideways or at an angle (say, against your ear. But how often will that happen). The push for more features that would imply something a little larger and nicer is in opposition to a smaller package you're finding phones in. Unless they all start to look like PDA's, or better yet, Game Boys, I just see this as another feature to add $5 to my bill that I'll never use.
Stereoscopic (Score:1)
I'm not talking about your stupid "LCD + VGA" or "LCD + S Video" junk here, I want good ole dual VGA out. Not only is dual monitor the way god himself intended, but how in the world are we supposed to use the badass stereoscopic vision gear that slowly trickles down the pipeline?
I really want to order a nice stereoscopic headset, but theres noth
Re:Stereoscopic (Score:2)
32MB GforceMX PC CARD [villagetronic.com]
Stereoscopic...yes, it is rather interesting. (Score:2)
They do take advantage of the cardbus slot, but yes are 33Mhz. I see no performance difference between an AGP 32MX on a G4 tower 500 G4 vs My PowerBook G3 (upgraded to 550G4) with the card I have been beta testing for villagetronic for two months now.
Still, games, visuals are a lot faster on my cinema display on the left (32MB card commented on here) and my onboard 8MB ATI adapted on the right. Both displays are 17" Apple displays. I CAN, hook up two displays to the card usin
Microsoft Bob CE? (Score:1)
I'll give you attitude... (Score:2)
An 'attitude' from a PDA based on near-current technology would surely be as intolerable as a bad attitude from, say, an employee or manservant with the IQ of an imbecile (slow, insufficient memory, poor software) who frequently forgets things, falls asleep just when you need him (flat battery syndrome) and even has occasional fits (locks up neeeding a cold reset).
If the technology improves to the point where
Not until- (Score:2)
I mean, really, have you heard of an 'end-all/be-all' voice recognition system? When voice recognition systems can match the speed of typing and be accurate, -then- we can mess with all these concepts such as avatars.
Sure, some day we may be assaulted by commercial avatars that refer to me by name, but dammit, I want to be able to say "Fuck off" and have them understand it!
personal assistants do not need 3D models ... (Score:2, Interesting)
note that by this hypothesis a personal assistant should collect plenty of data about the user before ever interdicting - as opposed to making an im
More distractions... (Score:3, Funny)
Top 10 phrases spoken by cell-phone avatars:
10. "No, I dont know the way there, why dont you just stop and ask directions?"
9. "You really need to clean out your pores."
8. "Just because I'm small enough to fit in your mouth doesn't mean you have to actually show everyone."
7. "How would I know where the charger is?"
6. "Hooweee, when yo' mamma sees yo' bill, she gonna whup yo' ass!"
5. "an-NUN-ci-ate!"
4. "Elf is about to die. Hah! Get it? Bah, kids these days."
3. "Whoa dude, that is NOT an earpiece!"
2. "What, you think I enjoy being that close to your crotch?"
And the Number One phrase spoken by cell-phone avatars....
"Stop looking at me and watch the #@$@#$ road!"
would u like me to screw up your letter? (Score:1)
to help you with your tasks... eh?
sounds like another paperclip to me
Demoscene (Score:1)
Good god, could there POSSIBLY be ANY better candidate for this than old demoscene programmers that built 3D raytrace engines from scratch in assembly on 386/33 boxen that ran at 30fps?! That was the first thought that popped into my mind, at least. I imagine that these are probably much more powerful than a 386 anyway. Find some of the old (school|skool) demosceners and set them to work. I bet they'd create some reall
More important issues at hand (Score:1)
Sure, they're light, they store text and run cutesy little windows applications, but what the hell are they used for, that a 20$ Casio Organizer can't do ?
If I wanted to play games on a 500$ PDA, I'd whack myself in the face and pick up my GameboyAdvance instead. PDA's are NOT computers, they are "Portable Digital Assistants". Playing games on a PDA is even dumber than
Coz, you know ... (Score:2, Insightful)
We all want this because we have no friends.
Avatars with Attitude? Bob Help Me! :) (Score:2)
Me: OK phone, time to call that hot chick about tonight...
Phone: No, you should call your mother first!
Me: What? No! Hot chick time, please.
Phone: Your mom has called five times and left messages that you've never returned.
Me: So what - she can wait - get me the hot chick, I'm ultra horny!
Phone: You shouldn't treat your mom that way! I'm half inclined to delete t
I think it's kinda neat (Score:1)