AMD launched its bid for technical supremacy in the VR rendering race back at GDC earlier in the year. It’s called Liquid VR, and the folks over at the Advanced Imaging Society liked what the company’s virtual reality team has come up with as they’ve just awarded them a prestigious Lumiere Award “LiquidVR technology enabling the best and fastest VR experience”.
Both GPU players are racing to ensure that their graphics silicon is as well supported and as well placed as possible to take advantage of the virtual reality revolution coming early next year, once the first VR headsets land. AMD’s Liquid VR is a set of APIs to enhance virtual reality rendering, lower latency and generally make immersive entertainment better.
AMD have been extremely conspicuous on the virtual reality scene recently – you’ll doubtless have noticed their sponsorship presence at various events, most recently of the pre-Connect Proto Awards. Their assault on E3 was also impressive, with one of the highlights their launch of the inaugural ‘VR Advisory Council’, a gathering of industry heavyweights to discuss the challenges VR technology poses.
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The AIS describes itself as a body that “recognizes outstanding international achievement in 3D & Advanced Imaging innovation”, with its Lumiere award. AMD’s VR Architect Layla Mah (pictured) accepted the award on behalf of the team.
It’s not clear how the AIS came to their decision, especially considering the lack of any final VR hardware with which to ascertain Liquid VR or NVIDIA’s equivalent Gameworks VR. What’s more, we won’t know for certain how either offering stacks up until headsets begin to ship in numbers early next year.
Nevertheless, you can’t doubt AMD’s commitment to the space over the last 12 months, and we look forward to having the opportunity to see what Liquid VR is capable of soon.
