Nvidia introduced today the NVIDIA RealityServer platform for cloud computing, a combination of GPUs and software that streams interactive, photorealistic 3D applications to any web connected PC, laptop, netbook and smart phone.

The NVIDIA RealityServer platform is a combination of NVIDIA Tesla GPUs and 3D web services software that delivers interactive, photorealistic applications over the web, enabling product designers, architects and consumers to visualize realistic 3D scenes.

Featuring iray photorealistic rendering technology, RealityServer is the first web services platform that enables anyone to interact remotely with complex, 3D models and environments, from any perspective and under customizable lighting conditions. iray technology is the first physically correct ray-tracing renderer that employs the massively parallel CUDA architecture of NVIDIA GPUs. Because ray tracing is one of the most demanding computational problems, iray technology is designed to take advantage of the parallel computing power of NVIDIA Tesla.

The RealityServer platform runs in GPU-based cloud computing environment, accessible using web-connected PCs, netbooks, and smart phones, enabling 3D web applications to dynamically scale based on utilization requirements.

Nvidia's RealityServer platform could be used in automobile production, where engineering teams would be able to securely share and visualize complex 3D models of cars under different lighting and environmental conditions.Architects and their clients would be able to review sophisticated architectural models, rendered in different settings, including day or night. Online shoppers could be able to interactively design home interiors, rearrange furniture, and view how fabrics will drape, all with accurate lighting.



"This is one giant leap closer to the goal of real-time photorealistic visual computing for the masses," said Dan Vivoli, senior vice president, NVIDIA. "mental images fully embraced the concept of GPU co-processing to enable Interactive photorealism anywhere, any time ? something that was science fiction just yesterday."

RealityServer software utilizes mental images iray? technology, the world?s first physically correct ray-tracing renderer that employs the massively parallel CUDA? architecture of NVIDIA GPUs to create stunningly accurate photorealistic images by simulating the physics of light in its interaction with matter. Because ray tracing is one of the most demanding computational problems, iray technology is designed to take advantage of the parallel computing power of NVIDIA Tesla.

"Everyone should experience the web the way they experience the world, in 3D," said Rolf Herken, CEO and CTO of mental images. "RealityServer offers extraordinary opportunities and far-reaching implications for businesses and consumers, enabling us to interact with 3D content in the form and manner that our brains expect."

The NVIDIA RealityServer platform will be available November 30, 2009. Tesla RS configurations start at eight GPUs, and scale to support increasing numbers of simultaneous users.

A developer edition of RealityServer 3.0 software will be downloadable free of charge, including the right to deploy non-commercial applications November 30, 2009.