Any Scientific Apps Going to Use the AGEIA PhysX PPU?

[interested]

All the other threads on here covering the AGEIA PhysX PPU are related to games.

I was wondering if there are any scientific apps already written, or in the process of being written that will take advantage of this new PPU?

Examples:
Apps which will help with fluid dynamics simulations,
Or CAD software packages


Anyone seen or know of any?

(please keep this thread only for NON GAME related software related to PPU, Thanks)

 

[Sgt Hobo]

The project leader of Folding@Home said that, with the way things currently are, the PPU won't provide any benefits for their project. IIRC, he pointed to a lack of a standard programming library/API in the style of OpenGL or Direct3D.

Regardless, Ageia could make a killing by marketing the PhysX to other people (scientific and modeling like you mentioned). However, Ageia seems to be pushing this solely for gaming right now but that could easily change if/when this thing takes off.

 

[[RCKY] Thor]

I actually asked Manju this question when he presented at the last Warfactory science center lan here in st louis, and he said that there is definate plans to get physx into the professional/academic world, but that their first focus was going to be getting it out to gamers. As an aerospace engineering student, this really excites me, imagine the fidelity you could get out of doing static and dynamic testing on the computer, or even better, X-Plane with 10,000 element models!

So short answer, yes, they do have designs on CAD/CAM, solidworks, stuff like that eventually.

 

[digitalfreak]

Seems like it would have been smarter to make these available to the scientific community as well. I think they'd sell a hell of a lot more of them there than they will to gamers, at least at first.

 

[griff30]

Seems like it would have been smarter to make these available to the scientific community as well. I think they'd sell a hell of a lot more of them there than they will to gamers, at least at first.

I recall in the mid 90s a practical joke was goning around about a PCI card with 2 cheap soviet CPUs (alledging from old nuke rockets no less!) that could do Seti@home and the responce was astounding! People were lined up around the web for a PCI card to do seti screensavers.
Now if the Seti team could port thier clint to a PPU with lots of gflops.....
Ageia would have thier killer app.

 

[kuyaglen]

Could a PPU help in rendering videos? I know that its possible to help 3d rending but what about processing video effects? ATI and Nvidia have cards that help why not have a trifecta???