The NVIDIA Blog

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Fight Global Warming with GPU Computing and C++! Posted: 01 Jul 2011 03:00 PM PDT Several weeks ago, Microsoft announced C++ AMP , an extension to C++ for GPU computing.  As a C++ enthusiast and GPU architect at NVIDIA, I couldn't be more excited. Visual C++, one of my favorite programming tools, is being updated to work with the parallel processors I help design!  I feel this really validates all the hard work we have invested in GPUs over the years. This week, Microsoft and NVIDIA co-hosted an event where we had the chance to talk to Silicon Valley C++ developers about C++ AMP and CUDA being two sides of the same coin: NVIDIA'S CUDA is optimized for high performance while C++ AMP will be optimized for productivity. We started things off with guest speaker Herb Sutter, the chief native languages architect at Microsoft (pictured above).  Herb's a terrific speaker and he made a compelling case for C++ AMP.  Earlier in the day, Herb had keenly pointed out that the crushing performance-per-watt advantage of C++ over competing programming languages means that solutions based on C++ are the greenest possible!  Hence my headline. Now as much as I'll admit that C++ AMP will be sexy, with its elegant syntactical curves, the reality is that the future is here now for CUDA developers.  After Herb's talk, a team of NVIDIANs presented the basics of CUDA as well as Thrust , a CUDA library of parallel algorithms that makes programs more concise and human-readable.  Eyebrows were raised with interest. People "got" it. Thrust has this effect on people. Developers can't get their hands on C++ AMP quite yet, at least not until Microsoft's BUILD conference this fall, but you can download CUDA and Thrust today at www.nvidia.com/getcuda.

From Drones to Cell Phones: Image Stabilization from the Battlefield Comes Home Posted: 01 Jul 2011 11:50 AM PDT Aerial drones are one of the most successful tools in the military's arsenal to fight insurgents in places like Afghanistan. But one of the challenges of using video collected from such planes was that it tended to shake like an earthquake, as the ultra-light drones were buffeted by air currents. In their search for a real-time video stabilization solution, the  military turned to MotionDSP's GPU-powered technology to allow them to distinguish friend from foe on the battlefield. San Mateo, California-based MotionDSP's solution to the military's shaky video woes is a piece of software known as "Ikena ISR." The software uses CUDA and sophisticated multi-frame algorithms to clean up grainy, shaky video in real-time. Now in use by the Air Force, Navy, Secret Service, Homeland Security, and law enforcement agencies around the world, Ikena ISR relies on GPUs for real-time processing. We recently visited MotionDSP to talk with its CEO, Sean Varah, and see Ikena ISR in action. We put together this short video (above), which shows how the same technology used by the military can also be used by consumers to clean up shaky cell phone video ( vReveal 3, available for free). It's a compelling example of how a military technology can "trickle down" to the consumer market, and yet another application that requires a GPU for optimal performance. Are there any situations where you wished you had video stabilization on your phone? Sound off in the comments below!

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