A picture is worth a million polygons

What you are about to see is a 2D picture transformed into a rendered 3D environment. It’s not a neat trick, it’s a new form of technology previously thought to be impossible for the past three decades. Enjoy:

Here’s some more reading on the topic. They should give Carnegie Mellon University their own television channel with all the cool things they’ve been working on in recent years. Can you imagine how badass Photobucket.com is gonna be in a few years? Picture the terror of a million-emo-myspacers making a game out of their weird-angled lives.

Sure, the technology isn’t gorgeous yet, but if 3D programs have progressed over a few years to let designers make high poly models like this in just a few hours (download the sped up video here for fun) , then I can see this technology booming in a few years for games as well. Don’t forget that sprites used to be the end all of gaming technology. Where they be now? Hell – imagine a Wii Headset that makes the flat TV screen projection bump out to be semi 3D. So many possibilities.