Euclideon

Euclideon Pty Ltd[1]
Private
Industry Information Technology
Founded 2010
Headquarters Brisbane, Australia
Key people
 Bruce Dell (CEO)

Euclideon Pty Ltd is an Australian computer software company best known for an unreleased middleware 3D graphics engine, called Unlimited Detail. Euclideon claims it is based on a point cloud search engine indexing[2] system and that the technology can provide 'unlimited graphics power', proposing it as a replacement for polygon-based rendering.[3]

In 2010 Euclideon was the recipient of approximately $2 million, the largest grant awarded by the Australian Federal Government under its new Commercialisation Australia initiative.[4] The funds provided by the grant are meant to support the implementation of multi-platform functionality, allowing Euclideon's technology to run on a variety of hardware platforms, including mobile phones and game consoles.[5]

Unlimited Detail

Unlimited Detail is described by Euclideon as a form of point cloud Search engine indexing system, which uses a large number of individual points to create models, instead of a more traditional polygon mesh. According to their description, the engine uses a search algorithm to determine which of these points are visible on-screen, and then displays only these points. On a 1024x768 display, for example, the engine would display only 786,432 visible points in each frame. As the engine is displaying the same number of points in every frame, the level of geometric detail provided is limited only by the amount of memory needed to store the point cloud data, and the rendering speed is limited only by the screen resolution.

Euclideon have previously described their technique as being a voxel rasterizer,[6] but decided to use their own terminology such as "3D atoms" and "point cloud", saying that "that word [voxels] doesn't have the prestige in the games industry that it enjoys in medicine and the sciences".[7]

History

The project was first showcased at the Australian Game Developers Conference in 2003.[8]

In 2011, Euclideon gained worldwide attention online when it released a number of video demos showcasing its 'Unlimited Detail' technology, attracting both skepticism and interest from the gaming press. Minecraft developer Markus Persson was critical of the demos, arguing that Euclideon portrays the software as "revolutionary" while it may suffer the same limitations as existing voxel renderers.[9][10][11] John Carmack said the technology has no chance of a game on current gen systems, but maybe several years from now.[10] Euclideon later released several interviews with CEO Bruce Dell in an attempt to respond to critics' concerns.[12][13]

In September 2012 Bruce Dell filed a patent describing the rendering algorithm said to be used in Euclideon's software. The patent was granted and published on March 27th, 2014.[14]

The Unlimited Detail Engine was noted in a review of DigiDoc Scotland by CyArk,[15] as "incredible" and "game changing". Shortly after, Euclideon was a sponsor and attendee at ILMF in Denver, 11–13 February 2013, showcasing Unlimited Detail enabled products.

In May 2013, another demonstration of the capabilities of the Euclideon 3D Engine showcases the Geoverse, where geospatial use is highlighted with the newly offered SDK.[16][17][18]

In June 2013 a former employee of Euclidean claimed that a significant number of staff were let go, mentioning that clients were very impressed with Euclideon's technology and that plans are in place to develop the Infinite Detail engine to "a stage where it could eventually be utilised for games".[19]

Euclideon appeared again in 2014 with a new video on their YouTube channel showcasing their solid laser scan technology and announced that they are currently working on 2 games and plan to open a gaming division in 2015.[20][21]

Geoverse

Geoverse is intended to allow users to view terabytes of point cloud data from laser scans of cities and terrain.[22] The point cloud is intended to be viewable within a second of the file being loaded, and at high frame rate. It is stated that as opposed to be loaded into RAM, the data is streamed from a local hard drive[23] or it can be streamed from a USB drive or over a network connection. The software requirements for Geoverse recommend 2 GiB of RAM.[24]

On 30 September 2013 - Merrick & Company's, a $116 million geospatial technology firm announced that it has signed an agreement with Euclideon to distribute the Geoverse software product line.[25]

In July 2013 - the Austrian company Meixner Imaging GmbH, part of Meixner Group - a European geospatial company, have signed an agreement that appoints Meixner as the premium distributor for Geoverse software.[26][27]

Holoverse

In 2016, the company plans to open a 'holographic entertainment centre' in Southport funded by a grant from the Federal Government, allowing visitors to step into hologram rooms and be transported to other worlds.[28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Euclideon Pty Ltd, Australian Securities & Investments Commission
  2. ↑ "What Is It ?". Unlimited Detail Technology. Archived from the original on 5 November 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  3. ↑ "Technology explanation video, time 7:27 to 7:35". Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Government grants pump $13 million into new inventions". StartUp Smart. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "Commercialisation Australia – Euclideon Pty Ltd". Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  6. ↑ 15 March 2011. "Dear Supporters". Archived from the original on 25 November 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2011. Polygon to voxel conversion is still young but is working as expected.
  7. ↑ "Digital Foundry vs. Unlimited Detail". 6 August 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "AGDC - Archive 2003". Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "Minecraft creator speaks out on Unlimited Detail claims - PC Games - Game - News - Atomic MPC". Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  10. 1 2 "Minecraft Creator Calls Bullshit on 'Unlimited Detail' Graphics Hype". Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  11. ↑ "Infinite Detail And Euclideon: The Elephants In The Room | Kotaku Australia". Kotaku.com.au. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  12. ↑ ""Unlimited Detail Interview"". Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  13. ↑ ""Euclideon & Unlimited Detail - Bruce Dell Interview"". HardOCP. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  14. ↑ WO patent 2014043735, Bruce Dell, "A COMPUTER GRAPHICS METHOD FOR RENDERING THREE DIMENSIONAL SCENES", published 2014-03-27
  15. ↑ "DigiDoc 2012 Recap". Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  16. ↑ http://www.hardocp.com/news/2013/06/06/euclideon_unlimited_detail_technology_status_update/ Euclideon Unlimited Detail Technology Status Update
  17. ↑ http://www.ausgamers.com/news/read/3310845/euclideon-point-cloud-rendering-tech-resurfaces-with-focus-on-geospatial-industry Euclideon Point Cloud Rendering Tech Resurfaces with Focus on Geospatial Industry
  18. ↑ http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Neue-Technologien-Thema-71240/News/Unlimited-Detail-Engine-Neues-Video-Engine-ohne-Polygone-1071125/ Unlimited-Detail-Engine: Neues Video von der vielversprechenden Engine ohne Polygone
  19. ↑ http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/06/inside-euclideon-a-significant-portion-of-staff-let-go-but-infinite-detail-still-exists/ Inside Euclideon: A Significant Number Of Staff Let Go, But 'Infinite Detail' Still Exists
  20. ↑ http://techreport.com/review/27103/euclideon-preps-voxel-rendering-tech-for-use-in-games Euclideon preps voxel rendering tech for use in games
  21. ↑ Euclideon Makes World’s Most Realistic Graphics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AvCxa9Y9NU
  22. ↑ http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/05/euclideon-said-it-would-change-video-games-its-now-working-in-the-geospatial-industry/
  23. ↑ http://www.asmmag.com/2012-12-30-14-40-18/feature/5686-australia-s-euclideon-unveils-geoverse-promising-to-revolutionise-3d-point-cloud-viewing.html
  24. ↑ http://www.euclideon.com/products/geoverse/
  25. ↑ http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/31035/2/ Merrick & Company Announces Business Partnership with Euclideon
  26. ↑ http://www.gim-international.com/news/mapping/geospatial_data/id7562-meixner_signs_geoverse_agreement_with_euclideon.html
  27. ↑ http://meixnerimaging.com/category/news/
  28. ↑ Pidgeon, Aleisha (19 December 2015). "Visit different 3D worlds in world-first for the Gold Coast". Gold Coast Bulletin. News Corp Australia Network. Retrieved 28 April 2016.

External links

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