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39. A computing device, comprising: a graphics processing unit (GPU) capable of determining lighting characteristics for an object in real time, the lighting characteristics defined through a basis function, the GPU including a stream processor configured to split a stream of data associated with the lighting characteristics into multiple simultaneous operations.
40. The computing device of claim 39, wherein the computing device is a video game console.
41. The computing device of claim 39, further comprising: a display screen in communication with the GPU, the display screen configured to present image data representing the object.
42. The computing device of claim 39, wherein the stream processor is a programmable hardware unit capable of executing code that is replicated multiple times.
43. The computing device of claim 42, wherein the code that is replicated multiple times is configured to process one of a ray tracing algorithm and multiply and add operations for data derived from the ray tracing algorithm.
44. The computing device of claim 43, wherein the ray tracing algorithm determines a direct illumination lighting characteristic in real time and the multiply an add operation determine a secondary lighting characteristic in real time.
45. The computing device of claim 39, wherein the GPU is further configured to render the object through a process involving linear interpolation, such that the lighting characteristics are applied to the rendered object.
46. The computing device of claim 39, wherein the basis function is one of a wavelet and a spherical basis function.
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