Got some ideas on how Intel should develop its upcoming graphics cards? Well, the company wants to hear your input.
On Wednesday, Intel launched a new program dubbed "The Odyssey," which is all about gathering community feedback on shaping Intel's discrete graphics cards, which are slated to launch in 2020.
The program's goal is to enable "two-way conversations" between users and Intel developers, said Chris Hook, marketing director for the company's Visual Technologies, who was previously at AMD.
The Odyssey will function as a mailing list, in which users can gain access to Intel's beta programs involving its upcoming GPU technology. The mailing list will also send updates about the latest developments and invites to company-sponsored events—both online and offline—where users can speak with Intel executives and developers.
"We want to hear from the community better," Hook said. "What are your pain points? What are things you are not sharing with us online that you can tell us about in person?"
The company has already been hearing some user feedback on the Intel Graphics Twitter account and on Reddit, where it held an "Ask You Anything" session in December devoted to discussing its GPU business.
Getting the community's support will be vital for Intel, which has previously only offered integrated graphics that come on board the company's CPU chips. In expanding into the dedicated graphics cards space, Intel will have to contend with AMD and Nvidia, which both have a strong fan base around their own GPU technology, which can power the latest PC games.
Intel's Odyssey program is open to anyone interested in the company's GPU tech, but it expects to hear a lot from gamers, graphic designers, and technology enthusiasts. To kick off the outreach program, Intel will hold a community event at the Game Developers Conference next month on March 20. At the conference, the company plans on talking up its efforts to design a better control panel that'll let users better optimize Intel graphics technology on PCs.
The company chose to name its program The Odyssey because Intel expects the journey to develop new GPU products to be long and challenging. "Nothing happens overnight, but it's never boring," Hook said.
But if all pans out, PC users will have another vendor to choose from when buying a dedicated graphics card. "There's a lot of people who want more competition in the discrete GPU market," Hook added. "We got that message loud and clear."
Sign up for The Odyssey here.