119.8 surround sound anyone? Will IBM's new CMOS Integrated Silicon Nanophotonics Chip really change the entertainment paradigm? It sure could, but time will tell.
A revolutionary, new integrated circuit technology from IBM could indeed revolutionize home entertainment, and just about every other aspect of your life. Dubbed CMOS Integrated Silicon Nanophotonics by the computer giant, it enables chip horsepower increases an order of magnitude over what conventional silicon chip microprocessors offer.
Just imagine the possibilities: The long promised 3D virtual worlds in your home theater, just like the Enterprise’s Holodeck. Enveloping surround fields using an almost unlimited number of speakers (although the possibility exists that this could be achieved with relatively few), likely using small arrays of transducers and continuously variable phase technology to create the perfect surround experience for anyone, regardless of seating location. Why only 11.2? 125.4 anyone? The completely enveloping experience is doubtlessly awaiting some visionary director to embrace it for their next blockbuster when it becomes available.
Communications technology will be similarly shoved forward. The unsurpassed power of the new design will allow for unprecedented compression algorithms and more capable hardware to cram ever increasing amounts of data across networks. The end result is that the 3DHD content of the near future will be truly ubiquitous, populating every aspect of our daily lives. Imagine not just watching a video on your iPHONE or PSP while taking the train to work, but immersing yourself in a virtual 3D environment and leaving the crowded environs of the train behind until you make the mad dash from the station to your cubicle.
The possibilities of this new technology to revolutionize all aspects of our existence boggle the mind and are leaving engineers, designers, and content creators salivating at the possibilities it opens for them. Will CMOS Integrated Silicon Nanophotonics ultimately fulfill its promise? As with any new technology, only time will tell, but the future has never looked (or sounded) better.
