Rthdribl is a "Real-time High Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting" demo. DirectX(R) 9.0 high-precision texture formats and version-2.0 of Pixel Shader represent real-time true HDR rendering.

From manufacturingtalk.com: A 3D virtual reality simulation system for optimising paint shop layouts and a versatile robotic trim component painting station will be shown at VW's 'Automation live' at the Hannover Fair.

During April 24-28, 2006, Durr will be appearing at the Hanover Fair, Germany, as part of the 'Automation live' event. 'Automation live' is a platform, initiated by Volkswagen (VW), that will be used jointly by VW and selected suppliers to present innovative plant concepts and automation solutions for vehicle and component manufacture.

From futurefeeder.com: A Force More Powerful is the first and only game to teach the waging of conflict using nonviolent methods. Destined for use by activists and leaders of nonviolent resistance and opposition movements, the game will also educate the media and general public on the potential of nonviolent action and serve as a simulation tool for academic studies of nonviolent resistance.

From Salon.com: Could the universe be a giant computer? A new book argues just that, and unlocks some great scientific mysteries along the way.

March 6, 2006 | The universe might just be an enormous computer -- that's the final, mind-twisting pirouette at the conclusion of Charles Seife's new book about information theory and quantum computing, "Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, From Our Brains to Black Holes." By the time you get to this suggestion, the statement seems pretty plausible, but by then you've already traveled through Seife's crystal-clear explications of thermodynamics, relativity, quantum mechanics, black holes and multiple universes.

This guy plays Quake 3 on the 24 monitor display wall of his lab. He says that the system is driven by 12 linux servers (2 monitors per server) using Distributed Multihead X (DMX) and Chromium which distributes the OpenGL rendering from the head node to all of the servers.

From GPGPU.org: This paper by Kolb and Cuntz from the computer graphics group of the University of Siegen describes a 3D flow simulation approach on the GPU. The flow simulation is modeled using the so-called Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics approach. The presented technique combines the particle simulation, presented by Kipfer et.al. and Kolb et.al. at Graphics-Hardware 2004, with a grid based approach. 3D grids are used to store intermediate flow quantities that are distributed by the particles in their neighborhood.

From GPGPU.org: gDEBugger is an OpenGL debugger and profiler that traces application activity on top of the OpenGL API and lets programmers see what is happening within the graphics system to help find bugs and optimize application performance. The new V2.3 introduces a Calls Statistics view that allows viewing the number of times each OpenGL function call was executed in the previous frame and its percentage of the total functions execution count. This information helps programmers locate redundant OpenGL function calls, state changes, etc.

From GPGPU.org: This paper presents Glift, an abstraction and generic template library for defining complex, random-access graphics processor (GPU) data structures. Like modern CPU data structure libraries, Glift enables GPU programmers to separate algorithms from data structure definitions; thereby greatly simplifying algorithmic development and enabling reusable and interchangeable data structures. We characterize a large body of previously published GPU data structures in terms of our abstraction and present several new GPU data structures.

From mentalimages.com: The field of ray tracing visualisation is set to see further developments in 2006, heralded by the announcement of a partnership between two of the sector's leading commercial forces.

ARTVPS, developers of a unique graphics processor for photorealistic ray tracing, and mental images®, the developers of the globally leading, Academy Award® winning high-end rendering software mental ray®, have concluded agreements that will further the evolution of advanced ray tracing solutions for 3D visualisation. As part of the deal, mental images will license intellectual property from ARTVPS with the exclusive right to its sublicensing.

Tim Boucher from Pop Occulture Blog talk about the huge craze of Virtual Reality in the 1980's when in fact, nobody was really doing it effectively. He ask himself if this phenomenon is comparable to the evil marketing genius Clotaire Rapaille's technic use by Nestle to prime a market for their products years in advance of the actual product being on sale at all. See his blog entry.