A Graphics/Game Engine Based on Quantum Mechanics

Here’s an idea for the ambitious

As I ride my long ride,

I wonder…

Could quantum computers, or even traditional computers, utilize quantum field theory to create far more realistic, persistent, and immersive virtual environments than both voxel and polygon based graphics programs?...

The program could perhaps save on power and time by only displaying/calculating a set number/types of fields and how they interact with each other…

Perhaps it will require, or just be better, if there are a finite amount of material or atoms in the program, and thus no further processing power is needed than what is used when the program initially launches.

The actual programming of this is beyond me… but would likely be all math based on current quantum physics.

You'd have an equation the computer works out to ‘render’ each type of field, and thus atom…

Anything to do with light and thus visual display would be the equation for the electromagnetic field,

Anything to do with touch, or physical interactions could perhaps be the electron field…

Anything to do with sound would also be taken care of by equations relating to compressive/sound waves.. which is technically an offshoot of physical interactions, but could be keyed to characters’ and NPCs’ hearing ranges...

You wouldn't need to do heat or smell obviously.. unless you wanted to get even more realistic.

I am very much thinking of all this on the spot, on my 3 hour commute. I dont have internet to fact check so I won't propose any more detailed ideas…

Suffice to say, the general idea I hope makes some sort of sense…?

Hmm, also I believe there are ways to simulate quantum computing like with the virtual machines Amazon provides.

Either way, I think it would be very awesome to see a game built from such an engine.

This method could theoretically offer incredibly realistic and detailed graphics as well as handle even the most complex animations and physics due to the inherent persistent nature of the physics-based technology.

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But after some research… I worry this was too naive… I didn't realize that Feynman Diagrams were so complex… I'm not sure if they are what one would actually use to calculate light and field interactions though. They seem to calculate the scattering patterns for when particles collide.

Turns out, there are thousands of such diagrams!!

But I also read about something called ‘amplituhedron,’ which is the geometric shape of such probabilities. This shape actually simplifies those calculations and thousands of pages worth of algebra down to a single one-page or less expression.

Within it, is the description of every possible interaction! It even suggests that space and time are mere emergent properties, not fundamental concepts. Therefore, they wouldn't need to be calculated either…

Granted, I still know next to nothing about much of this. But it's an interesting concept nonetheless.

If a game engine could be built on such a principle, it could ‘easily’ roll in graphics, physics, audio, and maybe even rendering all together. It would hopefully be incredibly lightweight too, since the fundamental building blocks are both form and function… meaning the atoms, unlike polygons or voxels, would allow the ‘reality’ of the game to come about as emergent properties. You wouldn't have to code or manually input each of those elements manually. You would merely manipulate the form of your atoms to get the desired effect.

Ideally, this would make the simplicity of ‘drag and drop’ actually viable and profoundly powerful. It would also still allow for the full range of creativity and customization for designers and developers… or maybe you wouldn't even need developers…. Or perhaps you would, but merely for scripting movement and events… but even that model may prove to be undesirable or inferior to just letting the game world come to life on its own.

This idea excites me SO much! Such an engine would allow for truly destructible and constructive environment. Where I could just dig in the floor, or rip grass from the ground… such mundanely simple concepts would be completely astounding in a game! It would mean I could rip chunks out of the ground and pelt them at my does as a mage. I could slice down trees and hear the crunching of my heavy footsteps leaving prints in the ground as a warrior. All the while leaving real scars from realistic damage on character models. Because in such a system, even character models could benefit from such realism.

The possibilities are endless. But perhaps I will leave the description of my ideal game for another post too…

Maybe I'm just too ignorant of reality to see why such a thing would be impossible, or prohibitively expensive… but man…. It seems so damn real in my head… just hasn't been done because of the massive prevalence of the current paradigm. Plus I doubt many game engine designers study quantum physics as a hobby haha.

I was inspired myself to think of it only just now after being so disgruntled with the apparent smoke and mirrors of Euclideon… I so wish it was real, but their complete lack of real proof and closed source mentality, their lack.of results after so many years is just so very disappointing.

If I ever do create my idea for quantum mechanics based graphics or game engine, you can be sure I'll have either an open source community or be selling access as soon as it works. I'd only even market it after proving that it works too by debuting it with an epic game displaying its power.

Until then… I'll carry on hoping and dreaming.