Quantum Computing

[Particulate]

http://venturebeat.com/2011/05/27/first-quantum-computer-sold/

Guess it's not a theory anymore. So now what? Well I guess that mean's we're officially IN THE FUTURE but what does this mean for gaming? Or electronic media as a whole. Considering how quickly computers decrease in value while increasing in power how long is it going to take before this kind of power translates into personal computers or even, be still my heart, mobile devices?

I'm as interested as the next guy about what Lockheed Martin, maker of crazy sneaky planes, plans to do with it but overall I think it pales in comparison to what this means for society as a whole.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Holy crap, these things exist IRL? I thought they were just science fiction!

OT: I have to say, that is really, really cool. I don't think there will be one in the public sector for at least 10 more years though. I do have one thing to say about it though. It will change programming forever once the tech is widely available. Not sure what effect it will have on gaming though. I think we will get more powerful machines (and, by default, better graphical rendering capabilities, among other things), but I think that will be about it.

 

[blankedboy]

Aw, this is cool. Can't wait until the things are norm. Anyone got a source telling what it runs on? Because if these are NT, well, SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~

 

[Particulate]

Holy crap, these things exist IRL? I thought they were just science fiction!

OT: I have to say, that is really, really cool. I don't think there will be one in the public sector for at least 10 more years though. I do have one thing to say about it though. It will change programming forever once the tech is widely available. Not sure what effect it will have on gaming though. I think we will get more powerful machines (and, by default, better graphical rendering capabilities, among other things), but I think that will be about it.

Graphical rendering? Why bother? With the amount of data and information one of these could slap down why not just start looking into a different interface? Perhaps holographic or maybe even direct neural input. Graphics currently are delivering nearly perfect, pseudo 3D humanoids and rich, realistic textures and this is the case for nearly all big budget AAA games. In fact when a game doesnt look just short of real people balk and discount it (look how minecraft struggled in its early days, amazing game but if you put it beside Crysis 2 there's something to be desired in the looks department). So how do you push beyond that? Better 3D? Maybe... but to do that you'd need better screens and better hardware which we could see some of at this year's E3 and CES Expo.... this year, maybe next year at the latest. But quantum is, well, bigger than just a bump in clarity or processing. It's an exponential growth in nearly everything.

Also this is my 50th post since joining the forum less than 24 hours ago.

Yay.

 

[Savagezion]

Stuff like this just reminds me that the shit people are going to build when I am dead is going to be so awesome. And I am gonna be so dead.

 

[oplinger]

Graphics currently are delivering nearly perfect, pseudo 3D humanoids and rich, realistic textures and this is the case for nearly all big budget AAA games.

No. ..Definitely no.

Graphics are currently delivering laughably unrealistic falsities that we believe look perfect because at a glance they look nice. Humanoids are far from perfect, but that has nothing to do with graphics, it has to do with the way it's done. The textures are also not rich, nor realistic. They are realistic from certain distances, and are rather flat with algorithms to bend light to look more natural. Closer inspection rules them out as terribly improper when done in real time. Pre-rendered doesn't get to count.

However, with quantum computing, from the limited understanding we seem to have of it for now, it has potential to be exponentially more powerful than current computing. What this will lead to is effects like...real-time displacement mapping and many many more dynamics. Couple that with the huge amounts of RAM for cheap now, and we can then have rich realistic textures, almost 4 to 5 times (..being resonable) larger in resolution, displacement mapped for details (the tiny wrinkles in your skin for example)

As for dynamics, rather than texturing a models polygons you could model out a person very roughly, then drape soft bodies over them for clothing, which would create realistic wrinkling and bending of clothing, rather than having it glued to the character. Hair would be the same way, the amount of calculations possible in the power they're theorizing with quantum computing would make that similar to running Half-life 1 on your top of the line gaming computer.

It only looks real to people who don't understand what real actually entails. And you know the whole uncanny valley thing. It's possible we may reach the other side with this

..Just..wanted to kinda clarify >.> oh and..welcome and yay for 50 posts!

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Considering how quickly computers decrease in value while increasing in power how long is it going to take before this kind of power translates into personal computers or even, be still my heart, mobile devices?

A decade or two, minimum. At the moment the average quantum processing unit is about the size of a shoe box and has all the computational power of a 70s era calculator. The pic in the article linked in the OP isn't a desktop sized unit, it's the size of a mainframe.

They're also very, VERY power intensive as quantum processors either work using photons or large aluminium molecules and freezing them to near absolute zero (0 degrees K) where upon they behave as if in a quantum state (yes, crazy oversimplification here).

As Dexter111 said, currently quantum computers are only good for quantum computing... which is to say handling the gruntwork calculations for fields based on quantum theory. Wider applications are a long way off... not to mention that a lot of people who deal with information security do not want quantum computing available to the public for a long time yet (basically until they invent encryption methods that aren't subject to serious arsefucking by quantum computing based cryptography).

 

[Gotterdammerung]

A quantum computer works by creating a perfect vacuum between two semicircular lenses, which have been cooled until they become superconducting. This causes the lenses to become perfect - no flaws, no aberrations, nothing.

Then you start to affect the vacuum energy itself, because a "true" vacuum contains an incredible amount of potential, and you use this to simulate different energy states of various non-real particles and atoms.

Due to the range of states available, a quantum computer has an exceedingly high base - in the hundreds, if not the thousands, and So only 8 lenses would be needed in order to have the same computing power as a Cray.

However, this is only theoretical, as not all of the states, and their corresponding vacuum energies have been mapped yet, and the cost for just 1 lens is astrological - you need an exceedingly finely ground lens, a series of top-of-the-range vacuum pumps, and a very good cooling set-up to keep it superconducting.

I wouldn't count on a quantum computer being available for domestic use for at least 50 years.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but that's how it stands at the moment.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well this article sounds very neat, but I want to see some benchmark comparison tests, "considerably faster" doesn't tell me shit.

But I love that these things are coming into use, who knows howmuch potential is there.