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Making possible ever more realistic video games has been a constant aim of developers and graphics chipmakers, and the community has been wowed over the past 24 hours by a demonstration (below) of Unreal Engine 5, an upgraded software toolset coming in 2021 that will help take verisimilitude to the next level.
Developed by Epic Games, the publisher of the Fortnite online combat title, the game engine improves on realistic lighting effects and makes it easier for small teams and studios to import more detailed objects and settings.
Rendering such photorealistic scenes on screen requires incredibly powerful graphics processors (GPUs) and Nvidia, the leading chipmaker in the sector, has for some time been leveraging its expertise here to adapt them for high-performance computing, self-driving cars and cryptocurrency mining.
At an online presentation on Thursday, its chief executive Jensen Huang unveiled the A100, the first GPU based on its Ampere architecture, designed for data analysis, scientific computing and cloud graphics, and shipping worldwide already.
With performance up to 20 times better than its predecessors, the A100 features more than 54bn transistors, making it the world’s largest processor at the level of circuit channels that are just seven billionths of a meter wide.
Venturebeat’s Dean Takahashi reports the first order for the chips is going to the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, which will use the cluster’s AI and computing power to analyze and combat Covid-19 – a titanic struggle that even a video game would struggle to match.
The Internet of (Five) Things
1. Fresh concerns over UK contact-tracing app
One way of fighting the pandemic continues to be questioned. An ethics advisory board is concerned that the UK’s contact-tracing app will exclude large numbers of people who do not have the latest smartphones, while 21 per cent of the adult population does not use a smartphone at all.
2. Norway’s Zoom booms on debut
Shares in videoconferencing company Pexip jumped more than 40 per cent during its debut on the Oslo stock exchange, in Scandinavia’s biggest IPO. Insead associate professor Gianpiero Petriglieri comments we are all becoming Zoombies: “Our eyes record the presence of another person. Our bodies register their absence. The dissonance is exhausting. ”
3. Politicians prime Amazon scrutiny
Amazon is not declaring victory yet. But after two months of heavy disruption, the state of emergency at the ecommerce giant is drawing to an end. However, scrutiny over how it handled the crisis is only just beginning, with politicians demanding more accountability and transparency, reports Dave Lee in San Francisco.
4. Musk wins reopening battle
Tesla has been given a tentative green light to restart production at its plant in Fremont, California, just days after the electric carmaker sued its local county and then restarted production in defiance of the authorities.
5. TikTok ticking-off
The viral video app has failed to delete personal data previously collected from children and is still collecting it without parents’ consent, according to 20 advocacy groups who say it is breaching last year’s settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
Forwarded from Sifted – the European start-up week
Coronavirus hasn’t just bumped up sales of hand sanitisers and face masks. It’s also led to a surge in interest in new approaches to disinfection, and some European tech start-ups are among those offering novel solutions.
Among them are SunCrafter, which has created a disinfection station that couples UV lamps with upcycled solar generators; UVD Robots, which has developed self-driving UV disinfection robots for hospitals; and Rovenso, which has robots using 3D models to target cleaning in areas of offices where people are most likely to touch.
Meanwhile, data show that 22 per cent of jobs at financial technology start-ups in the UK are at risk due to coronavirus. This sounds pretty bad, but it’s much better than in many other start-up sectors – such as travel or events – where the coronavirus-induced recession will probably bite much harder.
Finally, Parisian mega start-up campus Station F has started to reopen from lockdown this week for its 3,000 resident entrepreneurs. So how are they handling the return? And what lessons can other companies learn?
Tech tools – Fire HD 8 Plus
Amazon’s latest tablet features Qi wireless charging, the first of its hardware products to have this, according to The Verge. You will have to pay an extra $ 20 for it to be bundled with the necessary charging dock, bringing the cost to $ 140 (£ 150), but this does give you the equivalent of a countertop smart display with hands-free Alexa access. Announced on Wednesday, the 8in tablet ships on June 3, along with upgrades to the regular HD 8 device and its Kids Edition.
