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AMD says it has underscored its ‘dominance’ of the global virtual reality (VR) home systems market, having taken an estimated 83 per cent share of that market.
This share includes AMD-powered VR-ready game consoles (like the PS4) which are already installed in millions of homes globally.
The chip maker made the announcement at the 2016 Game Developer Conference, where it also revealed new advances in hardware and software to further the reach of VR, and unveiled its new GPU certified program that simplifies adoption of VR technology for consumers and content creators.
AMD demonstrated for the first time the company’s forthcoming Polaris 10 GPU running Valve’s Aperture Science Robot Repair demo powered by the HTC Vive VR headset. The Vive is due to launch next month.
Currys/PC World and Overclockers UK are set to open HTC Vive demo zones
AMD is of course also partnering with Oculus, as well as Sulon Technologies Inc. The Sulon Q headset is billed as the world’s first all-in-one tether-freeheadset for virtual reality, augmented reality and spatial computing
AMD is also making VR more easily accessible to consumers and content creators with its GPU certified program featuring the new "Radeon VR Ready Premium" and "Radeon VR Ready Creator" tiers.
Outside of gaming, the firm says it’s working with companies in healthcare, entertainment, education, media, training and simulation and more.
Elsewhere, AMD announced it is helping colleges and universities create dedicated virtual reality (VR) labs as Crytek’s exclusive technology partner in their VR First initiative. This initiative provides colleges and universities with a ready-made VR solution for developers, students and researchers.
AMD will equip the labs with its new Radeon Pro Duo graphics cards featuring its LiquidVR SDK.
"AMD continues to be a driving force in virtual reality," said Raja Koduri, senior vice president and chief architect, Radeon Technologies Group, AMD.
"We’re bringing the technology to more people around the world through our efforts to expand the VR ecosystem with VR i-Cafés in China, new Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets, and a wide variety of content partners in gaming, entertainment, education, science, medicine, journalism and several other exciting fields."
