3D Environments such as Cloud Party cannot achieve a fully human look as we may hope, or can they? Today Cinematic quality rendering is possible, it is not readily available to everyone, but as the future of computing unfolds everyday, it becomes more and more accessible. For someone such as myself working on a low end computer made in 2008, my video cards processing quality is not the same as someones with a brand new MacBook. But first, lets look at Cloud Party as seen through my computer.
Though they can create basic characteristics of a human being, it still lacks the look of being 'truly human'. As was put in the lecture, the avatars may look 'cartoony'. This is due to the fact that these environments are designed to be used online by many people at a time, coming from all different locations to the same server. For this reason, the rendering quality of avatars and even aspects of the environment are not as great as would be ideal. Cutting back on the quality of graphics allows places such as Cloud Party or Avaya to handle more users simultaneously, without seriously hurting environment speed, thus cutting back on rendering quality, using 'pre-rendered' graphics.
However, as Moore's Law stated, our computer processors are advancing so rapidly, that every 18 months, what was hi end top of the line, may be practically obsolete. Due to this rapid advancement of computing, what was not possible five years ago, is now possible in real time. So my 2008 Dell may not be as capable as a brand new Dell bought today from the store, but a brand new computer is fully capable of Cinema quality graphics. This is due in part from Moore's Law and the relatively new demand for 3D accelerators on a wide scale.
Since the advent of games such as Quake and Doom, 3D gaming has become much more widespread, and has therefor led to the never ending development of better and better 3D graphics technology, largely due to the advent of a GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit. Every process on a system has always been the result of what is called a CPU, or Central Processing Unit, which make up the basis for every action performed on a computer. What computer scientists working on a 3D graphics rendering speed and quality have done, is come up with the GPU. This Graphic Processing Unit works much like a CPU, but solely focused on processing 3D graphics, and nothing else. This rapid advancement of GPU's coupled with Moore's Law, which is cut in half to only 9 months in regards to GPU's, results in a world today where every home computer(uptodate) can achieve Cinema quality graphics.
Cloud Party
My Avatar in 'Skyfall'
Strange room
and another
Calling a Taxi
Waiting at the juice bar....
And playing some music on the Juke Box!
