5 ms·
Started watching the show, it is way too dramatized but still interesting. The actual demo of Terravision is indeed mind blowing if you remember how powerful c
by remh 5y ago
Started watching the show, it is way too dramatized but still interesting.
The actual demo of Terravision is indeed mind blowing if you remember how powerful computers in 1994 were: http://www.joachimsauter.com/img/big693.mp4 http://www.joachimsauter.com/img/big693.mp4
- ur-whale 5y ago> mind blowing if you remember how powerful computers in 1994 In 1994, SGI workstations could pull off this kind of stuff rather effortlessly, the only "tricky" part was to get the LOD algorithm right. So not that mind-blowing in practice. It would only amazing if Terravision ran on a stock PC (did it?).
- the-rc 5y agoJones and Tanner created clip mapping, first in SGI hardware, then in software. That's what made Keyhole and thus Google Earth possible on consumer machines. Is the allegation that it was all stolen? They could have invalidated SGI's patents. And no, Terravision didn't run on a stock PC, it ran on Onyx hardware. Plus it relied on an ATM connection! Even then, the demo has a bunch of glitches and gaps, plus the zooming is so slow, all of which doesn't look like superior technology for Intrinsic/Keyhole to copy.
- ur-whale 5y ago> Onyx hardware Yeah, IIRC, those were the high-end of the SGI line, very beefy machines for that time, especially for I/O and graphics, so I stand by my comment. [EDIT]: And thanks for clip mapping reference. For anyone interested in dynamic LOD algorithms, here's the paper: https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1145/280814.280855 https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1145/280814.280855
- jeffrallen 5y agoAlso, check out the bow tie on the guy doing the demo. Snappy.
- LordOfWolves 5y agoThis is quite impressive for ‘94, thank you for sharing. I found it funny - in a “how ridiculous/silly” kind of way - that at 4:40 we get to look inside a building by entering through its windows, but here we are in the 21st century with that exact capability. Individuals providing photos and/or footage of the interior of their commercial space does not seem so silly these days.
- jcun4128 5y agoI was thinking it's funny the literal globe interface you use and then this knob you turn that's held by this arm.
- cma 5y ago> knob you turn That's a 6-dof spacemouse, still widely used today in CAD and 3d modeling.
- iamacyborg 5y agoIt always makes me laugh that the ship controls in The Expanse are literally one of these things.
- jcun4128 5y agooh wow, I had to watch a video to see how that works, I have seen them before but thought it was just rotating on a plane.
- matheusmoreira 5y agohttps://youtu.be/AX7yS4q6kZY https://youtu.be/AX7yS4q6kZY What an interesting input device.
- ehsankia 5y ago> Started watching the show, it is way too dramatized but still interesting. I don't mind dramatization, but 4.5h seems quite steep for such a simple video that seems like it could be covered in a 20m Youtube video. Do you have a rough review if you ended up watching more of it if it's just really dragged on or actually contains a lot of content?
- brabel 5y agoI actually found it quite appropriate, specially after it picked up pace from the end of the first episode... didn't feel at all like it was dragging on.
- smudgy 5y agoIf you just want the tech stuff, it's very sparse but I greatly enjoyed the connection between the two protagonists. It was also a nice way of teaching my wife about what the world of computers was like in the 90's.
- the-rc 5y agoThat didn't run on a PC, it ran on Onyx servers, which had over 10 graphic processors.
- Genego 5y agoI tried hard to enjoy it. I did like the characters, but the dramatized story really didn't work for me. I guess it was a win though, because previously I had never heard about Terravision.