AMD kicks off physics engine push

AMD hopes to combine the Bullet Physics engine and OpenCL processing

AMD has begun a campaign to step up the adoption of a new physics engine. The company is working with software developer Pixelux Entertainment to sell developers on a combination of the Bullet Physics engine and OpenCL processing.

AMD said that the campaign would seek to grow the use of the platform for applications such as gaming and simulations. The companies hope that, by combining the open-source Bullet engine with the OpenCL GPU standard, developers will have a more powerful and effective way to run physics simulations.

Additionally, AMD hopes to allow the adoption of a physics engine which can be taken advantage of by all graphics cards.

In announcing the initiative, AMD chief graphics technology officer Eric Demers took a swipe at rival Nvidia and its proprietary PhysX engine.

"Proprietary physics solutions divide consumers and independent software vendors, while stifling true innovation. Our competitors even develop code that they themselves admit will not work on hardware other than theirs," he said.

"By working with Pixelux and others to enable open support of physics on OpenCL and DirectX 11 capable devices, we are taking the exact opposite approach."