NVIDIA VCA (visual computing appliance), which began shipping in August, has opened up the possibility of graphics-as-a-service.

The scalable, network-attached GPU rendering appliance with eight high-end NVIDIA GPUs is designed to provide designers and artists with the graphics power needed to create photorealistic images. It dramatically accelerates ray tracing, enabling users to interact with computer models of such high visual fidelity that it can eliminate the need for 3D physical prototypes.

While currently designed for ray tracing, NVIDIA is working with independent software vendors (ISVs) to apply VCA to other areas, according to Sandeep Gupte, Senior Director of Professional Services Group at NVIDIA (right).