Hybrid Rasteroid 3 middleware includes OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenVG, EGL and JSR 184
Rasteroid 3 is a middleware package with stand-alone implementations of the embedded graphics standards we promote in our main product Hybrid Framework. The APIs include binary versions for several mobile platforms (such as Symbian, Series60, Windows Mobile, BREW) as well as Windows desktop implementations. It includes the following API implementations:
- Stand-alone OpenGL ES 1.1 software implementation for Symbian Series60, BREW, Windows Mobile and x86 Windows
- Hybrid's OpenVG API for Symbian Series60 and x86 Windows
- Hybrid's EGL 1.3 interface API
- Windows (J2SE) implementation of the JSR 184 API (M3G)
Using OpenGL ES-accelerated mobile phones for face to face collaborative augemented reality tennis
Wired features a story on how a study by the Human Interface Technology Laboratory in New Zealand used a pair of OpenGL ES enabled Nokia Series 60 phones in a game of Augmeted Reality Tennis - tennis played without a real ball, using a virtual tennis court model superimposed over the real world as seen through the mobile phone camera. Players interact by simply swinging their phones to hit it across a net, just as in ordinary tennis. The study notes that mobile phones have developed into an ideal platform for augmented reality because they have full colour displays, integrated cameras, fast processors, bluetooth for synchronization and dedicated OpenGL ES 3D graphics chips. When the player points the camera phone at the markers they see a virtual tennis court model superimposed over the real world. The full pdf paper discusses the sample application that was developed using peer to peer Bluetooth, vibration for tactile feedback and OpenGL ES for 3D graphics and visual overlays.
Synthetic Vision article in July Penton’s Military Electronics discusses the need for OpenGL SC
Synthetic Vision (SV) in avionics displays refer to computer-generated 3D representation of the environment an aircraft is operating in includings terrain, flight paths, other hazards, automation cues, air data, runways, etc. This PDF article (July 2006 issue, page 10) discusses the difficulty in developing SV systems and how the demands of embedded systems and safety critical standards such as DO178B require a solution that is different from solutions for PCs. While OpenGL is the standard for avionics and should be used, it is usually prohibitive to safety certify an entire large library like OpenGL. A well-defined subset is required to provide a target rendering capability for embedded applications that is small enough to be certified. OpenGL ES is that subset. In particular the safety critical profile for OpenGL ES is oriented primarily toward traditional avionics and can form the basis for SV research and development.
‘One - Who’s Next’ 3D fighting game supports OpenGL ES 1.1 hardware acceleration on Nokia N93
'ONE – Who’s Next?' is a 3D fighting game sequel to the popular 'One'. This sequel features more advanced graphics, including new scenarios adapted for landscape mode gaming on Nseries mobile computers. It runs fully OpenGL ES 1.1 hardware accelerated on the new Nokia N93. If you are wondering just what OpenGL ES 1.1 hardware acceleration means for the 'One - Who's Next?", check out their movie trailer. This trailer is 3D generated in real-time on the Nokia N93 with OpenGL ES 1.1 hardware acceleration.
Nokia announces their first OpenGL ES 1.1 HW accelerated device together with SDK plugin
After shipping dozens of different handset models with OpenGL ES 1.0 API, Nokia has introduced the N93, their first fully hardware accelerated OpenGL ES 1.1 handset. N93 is capable of rendering millions of triangles per second, while maintaining high image quality by supporting free bilinear filtering and full-screen anti-aliasing. N93 device is currently under conformancy review and is expected to fully conform with OpenGL ES 1.1 specification.
To support the 3rd party application development, Forum Nokia S60 SDK Plugin for OpenGL ES 1.1 is already available. This plug-in enables full use of the native 3D graphics features supported in the Nokia N93. It also provides an OpenGL 1.1 ES features upgrade, from OpenGL ES 1.0, to the S60 emulator. This enables testing and debugging of OpenGL ES 1.1 compliant Symbian C++ applications without a device.
gDEBugger ES traces application activity on top of OpenGL ES for debugging and optimization - beta
gDEBugger ES is an OpenGL ES debugger which traces application activity on top of OpenGL ES to provide the application behavior information you need to find bugs and to optimize application performance. This new product brings all of gDEBugger's OpenGL debugging and profiling abilities to the OpenGL ES developer’s world. In addition gDEBugger ES acts as an emulator for OpenGL ES when working on Windows PC. gDEBugger ES is available under a restricted beta program.
Aspyr to publish third 3D game title for handhelds using OpenGL ES
Call of Duty 2 will be Aspyr's third Pocket PC-based title using OpenGL ES hardware acceleration using Intel multimedia accelerators. They’ve previously published OpenGL ES-accelerated Pocket PC versions of Pangea Software's Enigmo and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Call of Duty 2 is rumored to take advantage of the PowerVR SGX core expected to be in the new version of the Intel multimedia co-processor.
ATI acquires Bitboys Oy OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics and OpenVG 1.0 technologies
ATI has acquired Bitboys Oy. Bitboys is know for its OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics and OpenVG 1.0 2D vector graphics technologies optimized for high-volume mainstream mobile phones. These graphics cores will be supported by ATI's common software stack which covers its complete range of multimedia co-processors. This unified software environment will allow developers to easily create content for a range of devices and offers mobile phone manufacturers faster time to market.
MobiX3D player v0.2 for X3D and Humanoid-Animation content using OpenGL ES on PocketPC and Intel 2700G
MobiX3D is a mobile player for X3D (the successor to VRML) and Humanoid-Animation content. The rendering engine of the MobiX3D player supports OpenGL ES and features transparency (alpha-blending), color and shading (wireframe, flat and gouraud shading supported), texturing, lighting, backface culling. The player makes use of the GLUT|ES toolkit. The v0.2 release binaries are available for PocketPC using OpenGL ES 1.1 (Hybrid's Rasteroid) and for Intel 2700G-based devices (e.g. Dell Axim X50V) using OpenGL ES 1.0.
Blender Pocket uses OpenGL ES to bring the popular Blender 3D modeling, and rendering application to handheld devices
Blender Pocket is an open source, handheld devices port of Blender 3D open-source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering and playback. It runs using the Rasteroid OpenGL ES implementation (using a wrapper for any missing desktop OpenGL functions). Support for the Vincent open source OpenGL ES implementation is also planned. Currently it runs on Pocket PC but the author is looking for other people to port to other other embedded devices supporting OpenGL ES. The latest version adds support for images with UV mapping. Blender Pocket forums provide support for development efforts.