At SIGGRAPH, NVIDIA RTX Takes VR Experiences to Next Level

See the new advanced version of RTX Variable Rate Shading, and learn more about the future of VR and how it’s coming to the 5G edge.
by David Weinstein

Virtual reality in the enterprise is growing at an amazing pace. From designing buildings and cars to transforming medical research, more manufacturers, builders, companies and studios are using the latest tools and techniques in VR — and you can see it all at this year’s SIGGRAPH, taking place in Los Angeles from July 28 – Aug. 1.

See how artists, gamers, designers, researchers and more are using the latest methods in VR. Learn how advanced techniques like RTX Variable Rate Shading (VRS) help create high-quality immersive and collaborative VR environments.

Optimize VR Performance With NVIDIA VRS

One RTX feature in particular that developers have found critical in building immersive experiences is VRS. This technique simultaneously improves both image quality and rendering performance by applying GPU shading horsepower to the areas of an image where higher resolution shading is most beneficial.

SIGGRAPH attendees can see VRS in action at the PNY booth, in a demo using Autodesk’s VRED. For the first time ever, see a technology preview of VRED support the mixed mode feature in VRS, which includes both foveated and content adaptive rendering.

VRS works by combining two methods of shading within a single image — super sampling and coarse shading. This enhances image quality by delivering more shading power to objects or surfaces that contain more detail, while increasing performance at the same time.

VRS is especially valuable for VR environments, where it’s optimal to boost the image quality specifically where the user is looking. This concept, termed foveated rendering, is directly supported with Tier 2 VRS. NVIDIA RTX is the world’s first architecture to support Tier 2 VRS.

With basic, Tier 1 VRS, it’s only possible to specify the shading rate based on the high-level geometry. But RTX VRS allows precise control over the shading rate for different regions in the image plane. That means applications can use a higher sampling rate where the user is looking and a lower sampling rate in the periphery.

Read more about Variable Rate Shading, or visit NVIDIA booths 1303 and 1313 at SIGGRAPH to learn more.

Discover the Future of VR at SIGGRAPH

Stop by the NVIDIA booth theater to hear about the future of VR and where it’s headed.

There’ll be a panel discussion with representatives from NVIDIA, Tobii and HTC, who will share the latest techniques in VR, including VRS foveated rendering.

And one session will cover real-time rendering and ray tracing on the edge. NVIDIA and Verizon will discuss how VR is coming to 5G mobile edge computing, so companies can create photorealistic, highly immersive VR environments faster than before.

Check out our SIGGRAPH schedule for the full list of talks and sessions. Visit the NVIDIA booth to see demos of the latest advances and techniques, including RTX-powered ray tracing and rendering.