Sausalito, California-based Warp California Inc has released its Virtual TV technology with a US-wide release of demo disks to games developers. It is a fundamental software technology and the firm says it is affordable because it requires no special hardware and enables a new style of computer gaming, enabling virtual display of both three-dimensional computer graphics and realworld video. The graphics are pre-computed, so maximising the frame rate. It works on any personal computer with standard VGA board at video rates, and on a fast Pentium with a Peripheral Component Interconnect SuperVGA at beyond 70 frames per second. Coupled with software video decompression techniques, the product enables players to look around within moving video coming from a CD-ROM drive.
