Is Displacement Mapping the Secret?

A lot of talk has hit the internet about Nintendo and displacement mapping over the last few days. From the article: “A recent patent filed at the US Patent Office, number 6,971,957, describes how Nintendo aims to utilize Displacement Mapping techniques to cut down on the processing power required to generated high quality models. Displacement Mapping is a technique where a high-quality mesh physically transforms (displaces) a lower-quality object. Using the technique, a displacement map can be placed over a mesh of only a few hundred polygons and still look as comparable to a model consisting over thousands, even millions, of polygons. What this means in effect is that by using displacement mapping, Revolution games could look as good as Xbox 360/PlayStation3 titles without the need for high-powered processors such as CELL.”

So is the “secret” Miyamoto hinted at found in displacement mapping? Though the Revolution very well may utilize the technology, I don’t think something so tech related is what the company would push hard. You be the judge though.

[Source: TVG, Falafelkid]