Some time ago, I was introduced to the r/MechanicalKeyboards subreddit, where I marvelled at the colourful and creative range of keyboards on display. Now I have four 60% keyboards, two split ergo keyboards and a bunch of bags with key switches laying around. It is an odd hobby to enjoy, for sure, but allow me to introduce it to you.
Category: Technology
Virtual Reality is now… a reality! Apart from issues shipping the things out to their anxiously awaiting fans, the Oculus Rift CV1 and the HTC Vive are now in the hands of consumers ready to experience the closest thing we have to the Matrix. Or Sword Art Online. I am one of those fans, having been in possession of a HTC Vive for a few weeks now and can give my thoughts on preparing for VR and using VR. Prior to getting the Vive I was upgrading my PC, not only in preparation for the Vive but also to play games at higher settings with smoother frame rates.
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Moto 360 First Impressions
Two days ago I finally received my parcel containing the Moto 360, Motorola’s first Android Wear smartwatch. This is a quick first impressions post, but basically I really like it so far… and you probably shouldn’t get this. It’s definitely a first adopter product.
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Anti-Aliasing
I am not a graphics programmer. I have only passing knowledge of the graphics pipeline and could not code a shader to save my life. But as a gamer I am fascinated by the research behind anti-aliasing techniques, and so it was with great interest I read on Neogaf about the new AA technique being used in Farcry 4, Hybrid Reconstruction Anti-Aliasing, presented at SIGGRAPH 2014. Of particular note is that this technique performs a little better on AMD’s latest graphics architecture, GCN, which is present in both current generation consoles. It suggests that, given the console focused development of most AAA game studios (and game engine studios), the next few years could see more research into graphical techniques optimised or more performant on the GCN architecture, and thus influence the direction of high-end graphics performance on the PC.