SIMD Sorceress
Slang Working Group Chair @ Khronos
Day job: NVIDIA
For funsies: guitarist/singer in a cover band
Current project: Slang https://github.com/shader-slang/slang
For the Slang-curious: I'll be doing a virtual meetup to teach the very basics of getting started with Slang -- all the way up through drawing your first (2D) Gaussian splat! Join me on May 20, at 8am Pacific / 11am Eastern / 4pm British Summer / 5pm Central European:
https://shader-slang.org/event/2025/04/30/getting-started-with-slang/
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog walking through a very simple example of how you can use Slang's autodiff to make a set of gaussian splats learn an image -- yesterday, I finally posted the follow-up article that shows how you can speed things up to achieve much better image quality in much less time: https://shader-slang.org/blog/2025/04/30/neural-graphics-first-principles-performance/
I got a comment at Vulkanised that really resonated, asking how folks from traditional triangle-mesh-land can approach neural graphics. Because it was also new to me really recently, I thought I should take a crack at writing a welcoming introduction for beginners. Here's the result:
https://shader-slang.org/blog/2025/04/04/neural-gfx-in-an-afternoon/
@dneto @aras @xoofx @thekhronosgroup
Hi! I will (perhaps less hyperbolically) concur with David here that Slang isn't intended to be "the blessed language"-- from the POV of Vulkan, it's one of the several routes into SPIR-V. From the POV of Slang, Vulkan is one of several target APIs/platforms. I obviously think Slang is really cool (I am perhaps biased in that regard), but I also believe strongly in an ecosystem with multiple shading languages.
Slang is now officially under open governance at Khronos, and what better way to celebrate than running Slang shaders directly in your browser with WebGPU?
You can also compile your shaders to a variety of targets including Metal and HLSL. I'm giddy to finally share this!
Anyone going to #SIGGRAPHAsia2024 ? Catch me at the BOFs for Vulkan & Slang. (Also tell me your favorite food spots in Tokyo.)
Want to come work with me on a modern shading language? Slang's hiring: https://nvidia.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/NVIDIAExternalCareerSite/job/US-CA-Santa-Clara/Senior-Graphics-Compiler-Engineer--Slang_JR1987387
I won't be at SIGGRAPH this year, but people who will should check out Hai Nguyen's talk on using Slang in Vulkan, at the Vulkan BOF on Wednesday July 31. We've been up to some cool stuff!
Apparently, yelling "get good, n00bz" and pelting everyone with JIRA printouts is not considered the "proper" way to run sprint retrospectives.
@aras I have a similar model. I've found they can be pretty temperamental if they don't get regular mileage.
@rygorous "used to be a trend a while ago"
Ah, you've never been to the American South, I suspect. Pancakes, bail bondsman, auto repair, and gun purchases are frequently on the same premises there.
@aras it does indeed. Engineering and cat herding go hand in hand, really.
Time off report: I started trying out Tunisian crochet, which only counts as half of a new hobby, since I already crocheted. Regular crocheted things for several people, painted the band practice room, platinum'ed two games, went skiing, went to MAGfest, visited a friend several states away, and saw two bands I've been wanting to see for years. I declare it a success.
And now, off to do graphics-y things at NVIDIA.
@tojiro @jaffathecake I clicked on the poll just because of this reply, and...
@aras Weird, I can't think of anything that rhymes with "irradiance"... 🤪
(Counting actual launches, I've been part of WebGL, Vulkan, and WebGPU.)
After more than ten years at Google, as an engineer and a TPM, being involved in the launch of three different graphics APIs on Google platforms, I'm now in the process of winding down and taking a breath before my Next Cool Thing. This is the first time I've taken more than a single day off between gigs since... my teen years. Wish me luck, and try to keep from enticing me to pick up any new hobbies, because I have too many already.
I haven't had anything GPU-ey to say in a while. The dog is still pretty cute tho.
WebGPU shipping in Chrome 113! 🥳🎆🎉🎊
