Server-side 3D Rendering

The idea that it is more efficient to render 3D images on a server and then deliver these to clients in real time runs counter to the way distributed systems have been developed for decades. We have always lived in a world in which network bandwidth was so scarce and so slow that it was the bottleneck for distributed systems. IBM, Sun, and HP all see a future in which bandwidth is much more abundant and the delivery speeds are many times faster. They are beginning to create distributed visualization systems that allow all of the heavy visualization work to be done on a server and distributed to clients in a manner similar to MP3 movies (e.g. try watching streaming movies on your PC from Netflix). But they also believe that delivery speeds will be fast enough to allow two-way interaction so that the customer on the client end can navigate through the world and make changes to it while it is being rendered on the server side. Currently it appears that they are able to do this with 3D spaces where the client is primarily interested in moving around objects like machine parts and 3D molecules. The client may occasionally make a change and see the effect reflected back by the server in near real time. This is a necessary first step toward server-side rendering for virtual simulation and gaming environments. I do not think we are at a point where we can support real time interactive play yet and are probably very limited in the number of independent players that can be supported. But the financial benefits of this technology are so compelling that I expect many companies to push on this technology until they make it happen. Even Amazon web Services could be a provider in this space if there is enough demand It essentially turns every electronic device into the equivalent of a rendering machine. Imagine playing the hottest new computer game on your iPod, PDA, or cellphone – and not the high-end version, but a very mediocre piece of hardware. Also, imagine that you do not have to upgrade your computer when a new high-powered game comes out because all of the hardware upgrade is done on the servers. The number of potential customers for such a service is certainly in the tens of millions and perhaps handreds of millions. It seems to be on the scale of the cell phone market in size.

Paper-embedded Data

Hewlett Packard has announced a new product that is a 2mm data chip that is thin enough to be embedded in printed paper, such as the pages of a book, magazine, or annual report. These chips can contain up to 500KB of data and can transfer to a reading device at a rate of 10Mbs. It has similarities to RFID, but with much higher storage capacity and transfer rates. Marketers see this as an opportunity to deliver short movies along with a printed advertisement. Financial users could embed an electronic spreadsheet in the printed annual report. Children’s books could contain a chip on every page to enhance the reading experience by transmitting audio and video to a player. One federal use would be to make all printed documents compliant with Section 508 rules by adding an audio version to the paper.

Though 500KB is not a huge amount of storage. These devices should be viewed as a form of USB Data Stick. Initial sizes are small, but if the product is successful, then mass production could lead quickly to storage on the order of 50MB at significantly lower costs. At these volumes, intelligence documents could contain photos and video footage

ComputerWorld Article