Game Engines in Scientific Research

Six-figure workstations and custom software are not producing the best graphics or virtual reality simulations anymore. Today, the only way to have the fastest, most realistic simulations and sophisticated graphics is to trade down from the expensive gear to standard PCs running game software. Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and high-fidelity physical simulation have long posed too high a barrier to entry for any but the most generously funded researchers. Significant advances in computer graphics in these areas have traditionally depended on expensive, specialized graphics hardware running on scientific workstations. Highfidelity simulation/graphics software has also remained an expensive niche market largely the province of the military and high-end VR labs seeking to drive costly peripherals such as Caves, datagloves, and head-mounted displays (HMDs). In the past two years, however, the situation has changed remarkably. Now the mass market for computer games, grown even larger than the movie industry, has expropriated the best in computer hardware and software for itself. The most sophisticated rendering pipelines are now found not on specialized scientific machines but on PC video cards costing less than $500. The most sophisticated, responsive interactive simulations are now found in the engines built to power games. Despite the stigma of violence and gore associated with first-person games, there has been a long history of unpublicized cooperation between computer scientists and the game industry [1, 2]. Games have provided the first and sometimes the only market for advanced graphics techniques, demonstrating the extent to which realism could be conjured up even from relatively weak graphics SERIOUS COMPUTATIONAL