NVIDIA GameWorks VR enters beta stage with two separate SDKs for game and headset developers
NVIDIA has announced two separate SDKs for game and headset developers as its GameWorks VR development kit enters its beta phase. The new SDKs will allow developers to increase performance and create more immersive VR experiences.
Image Source: NVIDIA
When NVIDIA announced GameWorks VR alongside the GeForce GTX 980 Ti back in June, the software was still in alpha development. Now, just under two months later, GameWorks VR has entered the beta development phase with two separate SDKs for game developers and headset developers.
As the VR counterpart to the GameWorks game development program, GameWorks VR helps game and headset developers achieve better performance, lower latency, and plug-and-play compatibility for VR games and applications through a set of APIs, libraries and features.
Image Source: NVIDIA
The SDK for game and application developers allows them to take advantage of VR SLI and multi-res shading in order to boost performance, a crucial factor given how even a slight drop in frame rates can adversely affect the entire VR experience. With VR SLI, multiple GPUs can be assigned to a specific eye to accelerate stereo rendering, and the GPU affinity API now allows developers to use more than two GPUs.
On the other hand, multi-res shading increases performance via certain rendering optimizations instead. The image is sub-divided into nine viewports, where each of these is rendered at a different resolution to better match the pixel density of the final warped image. Without this technique, the GPU would end up rendering a lot of pixels that would ultimately be discarded when the image was warped, a relatively inefficient process.
Pixels are discarded when the final image is warped, which only means wasted GPU resources in rendering unused pixels. (Image Source: NVIDIA)
Headset developers will find that their SDK is geared toward helping them create unique and more immersive interfaces for head-mounted display. For instance, Direct Mode causes the NVIDIA driver to treat VR headsets as being accessible to only to VR applications, so users see only specific VR app interfaces instead of a 3D version of their Windows desktop.
Context priority and front buffer rendering also contributes to a better experience as they help headset developers reduce latency. With control over GPU scheduling and support for features like asynchronous time warp and direct rendering to the front buffer, developers can create more responsive, and consequently more believable, VR experiences.
Game and application developers can simply sign up for the GameWorks Registered Developer Program and download the SDK for free. However, headset developers will need to first register on NVIDIA’s GameWorks VR developer page and sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Source: NVIDIA Blog via Tom’s Hardware
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