Microsoft researchers, working in collaboration with computer scientists from Duke University, have just developed a ground breaking new tool that promises dramatic reductions in the amount of bandwidth consumed by video game streaming. The technology, Named "Kahawai", the Hawaiian word for stream, will enable users to play games that are streamed over an internet connection rather than run natively on a computer or other dedicated gaming device.
Theoretically, Kahawai may enable graphically demanding and hardware intensive games usually reserved for dedicated gaming PC's or consoles to be played on devices like smartphones and tablets.
"That's a huge win, especially if your cellphone plan has a data cap," said Duke computer scientist Landon Cox, who helped develop the approach with his graduate student Eduardo Cuervo, now at Microsoft, and Alec Wolman, a Microsoft researcher.
Streaming games over the internet differs greatly from streaming video, music, or other media because video games require input from the user. Every action the player makes on his mouse or game controller must be sent to the server. A subpar internet connection can greatly increase the time between a player inputting an action and it appearing on screen which would render most video games unplayable. This is the problem Kahawai looks to solve.
The concept of video game streaming has gained traction in recent years as big companies across the industry have debuted game streaming services that look to bring games to players everywhere, regardless of the devices they own. Notable examples include Nvidia's Grid Gaming service and Sony's Playstation Now. However limitations like data caps and high internet speed requirements have kept these types of services from breaking out.
Just last month, Onlive a start-up company that was one of the first to bring up the idea of game streaming as a viable way to play, filed for bankruptcy.
