Mobile graphics computing just got its best demo ever

Nvidia mobile Kepler demo

It's hard to believe it, but this demo is running on a mobile chipset, in real time

We got very excited about this demo from Nvidia a few months ago. It's a talking head with previously unseen realism - and previously unheard of complexity in the software that created it. Just when we were all speculating at what sort of monstrous computing farm would be needed to create this marvel, we were told that not only was it computed on a single graphics card, but in real time as well.

And that was just the beginning, because Nvidia has just shown what is practically the same demonstration, but this time running on a mobile chipset.

Incredible

That's right. Before long, you're going to see this type of realism in games on your tablets and your smartphones. Absolutely incredible.

What's even more interesting to professionals is that this type of GPU computing might be available in cameras and all types of professional equipment before very long.

This all works because Nvidia has transplanted their Kepler technology onto their new mobile platform, called Logan. Kepler is both an architecture and a way of hooking into it, making all the services of the GPU available to more general purpose programs.

A few compromises

Of course the Logan/Kepler combination isn't quite as powerful as "traditional" graphics cards so there had to be some compromises. The resolution maxes out at HD rather than 4K, and some of the skin-simulation techniques have been throttled back. But not enough to make this look any less impressive.

They've even added some details absent from their previous demonstrations. Tear ducts, which define the interface between the eyeball and the lower eyelids, have been included. It's stuff like this that adds even more credibility to this impressive demonstration.

More technical details in the video commentary