Even GTA V—its most recent successor—has gone through a significant visual overhaul since launching in September 2013. And now, Intel wants to step realism up to another level.
So, what is Intel doing? How do the tactics it’s using work, and where might we see them in the future? Let’s take a look.
What Is Intel Doing Within GTA V?
Intel is looking at making GTA V look even more realistic by enhancing how you see the cityscapes within the game.
The project will enhance the imagery you see while playing in several areas. For example, the trees lining the streets you drive along will appear more luscious and—well—alive.
The texture of the roads, buildings, and pavements—plus other areas—will also look more realistic. If you’ve used Google Maps, think Street View; only you’re playing from the comfort of your chair instead of looking for directions to your friend’s house.
How Is Intel Making This Possible?
The researchers responsible for this project are Hassan Abu Alhaija, Vladlen Kolten, and Stephan R. Richter. The trio are using photorealism to enhance GTA V’s imagery and used the Cityscapes Dataset—which is based on several cities throughout Germany—to move their project forward.
As you can see from the video above, one striking difference compared to other machine learning attempts is how stable the footage was. You didn’t have to deal with lag, fuzziness, or any other glitches while watching the samples they included.
What Is Photorealism and How Does It Work?
In its simplest form, photorealism is the process of taking an existing photo and trying to make it as realistic as possible. However, this doesn’t mean going out and capturing another still or video with a camera. Instead, the goal is to do so via something like drawing, painting, or—in this case—video game graphics.
You might already have heard of photorealism in real life by its other frequently used name; superrealism. Famous artists in this discipline include the late Chuck Close and the German Gerhard Richter and Audrey Flack from the US.
In video games, you can already see examples of photorealism elsewhere. For example, the soccer game eFootball PES 2022 wants to focus on allowing players to “be able to play games in photorealism”—as mentioned in an opattack.com interview earlier in 2021.
Another example of photorealism in a game is Death Stranding, in which you’ll find landscapes that look almost real-life—while the same is true for the characters. Circling back to GTA V (and possible future releases), we could find that Rockstar gives characters in the game a more realistic, lifelike look—likewise for objects such as clothing.
Where Else Might We See Photorealism in the Future?
Considering the direction that video games have taken throughout the 21st century, it’s safe to say that GTA V won’t be the only video game featuring photorealism. In fact, Strauss Zelnick—CEO of Take-Two Games (the company that owns Rockstar), said in a 2020 gamesindustry.biz article:
However, we might see photorealism make its way into other industries, too. It’s already been in healthcare for a while, and—with the ever-growing amount of knowledge we gain in this sector—we might see it become even more commonplace.
Another interesting possible use for photorealism is in the military. In 2021, Microsoft and the US Military penned a decade-long partnership worth billions of dollars.
Photorealism allows soldiers the opportunity to practice for real-life situations without putting them in the literal firing line. As such, other armies around the world could adopt these training tactics in the future.
GTA V: A Classic Becoming a Little More Realistic
GTA V’s imagery has continued improving as it has migrated across different game consoles and we learn more about graphics in gaming. And for PC gamers, Intel’s photorealism could make the game realistic to the point of the original being unrecognizable.
Photorealism is already taking place in both video gaming and other walks of life. However, these tests pose the question: can video games be too realistic? Gameplay is just as important, and developers mustn’t forget this.
