Category Archives: Projekt

Presentation at Super Computing and GPU Conference

On December 15th 2011, Michael Schøler (Hinnerup Net) and Henrik Høj Madsen (LEGO) presented LEGO 3DServices at the “Accelerating Computations – a research conference on graphics processing units, visual computing and beyond” conference held by the Alexandra Institute / Computer Graphics Lab in Aarhus.

Our presentation topic was as follows:


Scalable GPU computing service architecture: LEGO 3DServices
Michael S. Fosgerau (Hinnerup Net) and Henrik Høj Madsen (LEGO)

As LEGO is moving into the virtual playspace, a platform technology has been developed in-house primarily based on NVIDIA technologies, featuring:

  • CUDA, OptiX, OpenGL and general shaders
  • 17 NVIDIA Quadro Plex 2200 S4 in multiple environments, multiple datacentres
  • Advanced shading techniques for approaching high-quality results in real-time
  • On-demand asset generation
  • CDN assets distribution
  • A generic service-oriented interface
  • A distributed rendering architecture
  • Architectural patterns for distributed computing
  • A plugin architecture supporting existing and future LEGO experiences
  • A mentality shift from traditional ways of doing things on CPU vs GPU
  • General experiences from developing on NVIDIA tech in a large-scale Enterprise setup

The LEGO 3DServices system is designed to support diverse computational needs such as on-demand rendering, mesh optimisation, a Massive Multiplayer Online Game (MMO), product visualisations, 3D modeling and other current and future demanding computational tasks. Our aim with this session is to share our learnings and present LEGO’s vision of the future of distributed GPU accelerated computation as a business-driven platform technology.

The conference also included these very exciting presentations:

  • How OptiX Makes the GPU Shine – a look inside NVIDIA’s Ray Tracing Engine
    David McAllister, Optix Manager, NVIDIA
  • MR reconstruction on GPU
    Thomas Sangild Sørensen, Associate Professor, Computer Science, Aarhus University
  • Parthenon Renderer Revealed
    Toshiya Hachisuka, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Aarhus University
  • Subsurface Light Propagation Volumes
    Thomas Kim Kjeldsen, Research and Innovation Scientist, Computer Graphics Lab, Alexandra Institute
  • Accelerating Dense Linear Algebra on the GPU
    Hans Henrik Brandenborg Sørensen, Post. Doc., GPU Lab, DTU Informatics
  • Massive Acceleration at the Alexandra CG Lab
    Jesper Bjerg Mosegaard, Head of Research and Innovation, Computer Graphics Lab, Alexandra Institute
  • Dozens of Uses for Billions of Rays – a survey of ray tracing applications
    David McAllister, Optix Manager, NVIDIA

LEGO HERO Factory is now cooler and wilder!

The recently launched site for LEGO HERO Recon Team, which is the home for the reconnaissance units under LEGO Hero Factory, is getting a lot of positive feedback and is a huge success with regards to both online visitors and sales.

Link to review: www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/05/lego-hero-recon-hero-factory-has-just-gotten-a-lot-cooler/

Hinnerup Net has participated in the development of the systems which render your customized HERO Recon Team and Comic Builder figure in near real-time, and also the generation of building instructions both online and with your ordered HERO Recom Team figure. Furthermore we have helped developing the online ordering system.

Build your own HERO Recon Team figure online here today, share it with others and/or purchase it as your own unique LEGO kit:
http://herorecon.lego.com

You can also try out HERO Factory Comic Builder here, where you can create comic-strips with your very own HERO figure:
http://herofactory.lego.com/comicbuilder

Update2018: The building feature has been closed but you can still experience how the builder worked in this youtube video:

Enjoy!

Congratulations with the launch of LEGO Universe!

Hinnerup Net hereby congratulates LEGO with todays launch of LEGO Universe.

The floodgates opens today, 4 days before planned, for all who have preordered the game – the players known as the Founders. The official launch date for the retail DVD version of the game is October 22nd (EU) and October 26th (US).

We would like to thank LEGO for a good cooperation on this incredibly exciting project, and are looking forward to help participate in the future work.