Professor Philipp Slusallek at the University of Saarland, and other members of the OpenRT project have developed algorithms that have drastically sped up how fast ray tracing can be done. Using these algorithms on several computers (equivalent to about 36 GHz) the OpenRT group was able to achieve 20 fps while running a ray traced version of Quake 3. While it would still be impossible to run something like this on any normal computer, it is a considerable step towards being able to use ray tracing in gaming and other computer graphic applications.

The OpenRT project does not only focus on making more efficient ray tracing algorithms. They also have done a lot of work on making the finished image be as realistic as possible. Their algorithms even account for complicated light behavior, such as caustics and multiple reflections. Images that demonstrate what OpenRT can do can be viewed on their website, which is listed below.

OpenRT is relevant to this class because our first project is about ray tracing. Also, ray tracing is essentially finding the roots of functions, which is what we have focused on so far.

OpenRT’s homepage: http://www.openrt.de/
BBC story on OpenRT:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6457951.stm