THE FIRST MACHINE: GSI: Generateur Synthetique d'Images: 1979
GSI was able to visualize 400 Gouraud shaded polygons by frame in real time.
GSI was based on priority algorithms, with solid angle based space partitionning and priority computation.
Gouraud shading was implemented.
GSI was dedicated to target airflight simulator.

                
1979: GSI: 400 real time polygons per frame!     The GSI (Generateur Synthetique d'Images) system
                                                                                with author at work!

I designed after main schemes of the GSI 10000, a 10000 polygon per frame Z-BUFFER machine
 

CUBI 7 1980-1985: FIRST  real time Z-BUFFER MACHINE:
CUBI 7 was a 3D real time machine, the first one with a true, 24 bits Z-BUFFER and 24 bits RVB in 1980.
I launched this machine with a team in 1981, far before SGI.
CUBI 7 was designed for multimedia applications, CAD and also simulation.

Each anti-aliased, Gouraud shaded, Z-buffered pixel was computed in less than 50nS.
For a 512x512 screen, the display capability was:
20 Millions pixels per second!
so: 200000 polygons per second!

The first host machine was a VAX 750.
and after a SM90, then a SUN.

This machine had Z-keying capabilities: for instance, it was possible to insert a real charactor inside a synthetic scene in real time.

More than 20 CUBI 7 machines were built in EUROPE:
For Research Centers & Industry:
CITROEN, Ecole Polytechnique, Ecole Centrale, Laboratoire des Ponts et Chaussées,
Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécoms de Bretagne, University of Compiègne,
and Companies involved in video & movies productions.