Bottega makes VR and AR available to cheaper and lighter hardware

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are technologies that have taken the world by storm. Games like Pokemon GO have made AR a daily activity, and platforms like Oculus and Steam VR have made deploying VR games to the masses possible. However, both of these technologies require a substantial amount of rendering power to make the graphics of a quality that is engaging. This means that many devices, including middle and low tier mobile phones, are out of contention. That is unless the developer uses Bottega’s technology.

While normal games and apps require the graphics to be rendered in real-time on the device being used, Bottega allows these games and apps to offload a hefty portion of this rendering to remote systems. Unlike systems like Microsoft’s Project xCloud, however, Bottega does not use live remote rendering servers. Instead, the system pre-renders portions of the graphics. This allows the app or game to load the graphics from hot storage, which is far cheaper than powerful rendering servers. Storage, even hot storage, is fairly cheap in the grand scheme of cloud services, and taking advantage of this can be a major cost saving for the developer.

By implementing this technology, AR and VR can be brought to smaller and lighter technology. Inexpensive phones can now access features that were withheld from them. Even better, standalone VR and AR headsets, like the Oculus Go and the Microsoft HoloLens, can be made significantly lighter. This can usher in a new era of VR and AR experiences that do not require bulky hardware or tethered computers. All it will require is an internet connection. With the impending launch of 5G network connections, this will be able to be made mobile, as well.

Bottega is currently in an early testing phase but hopes to be ready for a wider rollout in the near future.

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