Achieving best-in-class visual fidelity in real-time rendering, ZeroLight, Audi AG and NVIDIA have teamed to demonstrate real-time ray tracing during the GPU Technology Conference (GTC), in San Jose through March 29.

Using the latest NVIDIA Quadro GV100 GPUs in SLI with NVLink interconnect technology and ZeroLight's visualization software, Audi is able to portray realistic and lifelike lighting by combining ray-traced reflections and ray-traced shadows with its digital car models - providing customers with a higher level of realism when customizing vehicles during their retail experience. External wing mirrors, accessories and curves all reflect within the body paint, whilst interior fixtures reflect off glass surfaces, such as door windows and the windscreen.

"By pioneering such rendering techniques, we edge closer to true-to-life representations of our vehicles in real-time, elevating both customer experience and the industry benchmark," said Thomas Orenz, Global Lead Digital Content and Virtual Reality, Audi AG.

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The GTC demonstration comes as part of a connected experience, combining Audi's cloud-powered online configurator with personalized advertising and new 4K advancements. Audi's cloud solution has driven significant quantitative and qualitative results, leading to an expansion of its pilot into the Netherlands during December last year.

"Audi's cloud solution is the most sophisticated on the market, providing a scalable proposition that maximizes reach and engagement," said Darren Jobling, CEO, ZeroLight. "We are excited about our continued work with NVIDIA and the potential of the new Quadro GV100 to significantly advance how products are made."

The cloud solution is powered through AWS, which utilizes NVIDIA GRID for graphics virtualization with NVIDIA GPUs as part of its G2 instance architecture. With both configurators integrated into the GTC demonstration, users can understand how existing hardware is harnessed to create a world-leading online proposition, whilst also gaining insight into the potential of NVIDIA GPUs and NVIDIA GRID for graphics virtualization in the cloud

"Audi and ZeroLight's delivery of real-time ray tracing on a workstation is a significant achievement, highlighting the unprecedented power and performance of the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 with NVIDIA Volta GPU architecture," said Bob Pette, Vice President, Professional Visualization, NVIDIA. "We continue to work closely with our partners as we bring our newly announced NVIDIA RTX ray tracing technology to market to power physically-accurate rendering at the speed of light."

Public Relations - ZeroLight
‍Joseph Artgole
Associate Marketing Director, ZeroLight
T: +44(0) 191 485 0505
‍E: joseph.artgole@zerolight.com