Gaming World: Platform Evolution

1. Gaming World: Platform Evolution David Coombes Platform Research Manager Sony Computer Entertainment America

2. Do you want to play Stereo 3D games? • What features will consoles need? • What kind of performance can you expect today? • What will the future look like and how will it affect game play? • The creators of PlayStation will share their insightful perspectives.

3. Parallax and Convergence Exercises • Parallax • Finger out at arms length • Close one eye and then the other • See the 2 images your brain fuses • Convergence • Finger out at arms length • Both eyes open • Touch nose with finger

4. 3D has been around for as long as photography http://www.camelphotos.com/stereo_photos.html

5. 3D has been around for as long as photography

6. Viewing has always been a problem • Especially for video • Red Cyan Anaglyph was only solution until polarized solutions • Mean while many advanced in LCD technology • Makes 3D TV possible

7. 3D TVs • 3D TVs became available before a standard existed • Games had to support every 3D TV format • The user had to choose the correct setting • Error prone and potentially a poor experience

8. Connectivity • HDMI 1.4 solves connectivity problem • Industry wide support • There IS NO Format War!!! • Simple for consumers • This means every PS3 can send S3D to any device with HDMI 1.4 support

9. Supported Formats used by PS3 • These are all mandatory formats so all receiving devices will work with them • The PS3 outputs the following formats for S3D

10. What does it take to make a game 3D? • Art or Science? • Let us look at the Science first because it’s the easy bit… This cylindrical-perspective stereo mosaic was created from navigation camera images acquired by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during Spirit's sol 153, on June 8, 2004. Spirit is pointing toward the base of the "Columbia Hills." 'Dalí's Hand Drawing Back the Golden Fleecein the Form of a Cloud to Show Gala the Dawn,Completely Nude, Very, Very Far Away Behind the Sun

11. Science: Render Twice • Render everything twice • Traverse entire scene twice • Transform all vertices twice • Fill all pixels twice • Pros: Control, Correctness • Cons: Expensive This is like using a dual camera right in the real world

12. Science: Reproject • Use Depth and Frame buffers to recreate left and right eye views • Have to fill holes This is like doing a stereo conversion in real time

13. Science: Reproject • Artifacts due to holes • limited separation • May not handle everything correctly • Transparency, reflections etc • Pros: Easy to integrate, Low performance impact • Cons: Less control, less correct

14. Science: Which to choose? • Depends on the game and requirements • Rendering everything twice is a technically superior solution • Choose your battles carefully and reprojection can look great and is easier to integrate

15. Art • Making it look good • Making it comfortable Too much depth adds to parsing time

16. Art: How Games are Different to Movies • Our cameras are infinitely light and small • Just like an animated feature • Has to be real time • You have 1/30th of a second to generate the next image • Viewer controls the camera and where they look in the image • Limits how much you can cheat • Limits how you spend your stereo budget

17. Art: Learning Curves • It’s a learning curve • Very exciting time • Every S3D film is better than the last…

18. Tales from the Frontline: WipEoutHD • 2D version: 1080p@60Hz • Split screen for 2 players • S3D version: 720p@30Hz • (1280*720*2) = 1.7Mpixels • (1920*1080) = 2.1Mpixels • Fixed interaxial distance • Max separation of 3%

19. Tales from the Frontline: WipEoutHD • Some work on the HUD • Push cross hairs into scene • Add S3D elements to Menus to keep the game feeling S3D • Else it was very noticeable when the game was only displaying 2D graphics in menus

20. Tales from the Frontline: Motorstorm: Pacific Rift • 2d version 720p@30Hz • No scope for cutting frame rate • Game already had split screen view • Pushes out LOD and fewer effects • Bound by fill rate • Used smaller render targets • In car view uses fixed interaxial • Chase came uses varying interaxial • Quite wide settings to emphasize depth in the scene

21. Tales from Frontline: Motorstorm: Pacific Rift • Lowered HUD opacity • Easy for player to filter on depth • Look at HUD • Look through HUD

22. The future

23. The Future • Higher resolution rendering will give better results • Aliasing (aka Jaggies) can cause issues • Jaggies, Aliasing and Moire patterns can result in issues even in 2D • Different images to each eye in 3D is confusing

24. The Future…. • Autostereoscopic is certainly coming • Nintendo 3Ds is an early example • HTC Evo 3D Coming this summer • Many TV manufacturers showed autostereo models at CES

25. The future • Sony RayModeler • Volumetric 3D Display • Viewable from any side

26. The future • Head mounted displays • Why not surround yourself in a world of 3D for total immersion • Display knows orientation of your head • Display could also track your gaze • More realistic interface the eyes

27. The future • 3D Controls

28. Games • COD is S3D on all Platforms • 7million units sold on first day!!

29. Summary • Do you want to play 3D Games? • What features will consoles need? • What will the future look like and how will it affect game play?

30. Thanks! David Coombes Platform Research Manager SCEA Developer Support David_Coombes@playstation.sony.com

31. 3D world