# IrisVision

> SGI graphics card

**Wikidata**: [Q6070091](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6070091)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IrisVision)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/irisvision

## Summary
IrisVision is a 1991 expansion-card graphics accelerator manufactured by Silicon Graphics (SGI) that brought high-end IRIS GL workstation graphics to IBM-compatible PCs. It is an expansion card that plugs into a computer to add advanced 3-D and imaging capabilities previously available only on SGI workstations.

## Key Facts
- Inception year: 1991
- Manufacturer: Silicon Graphics (SGI)
- Product class: expansion card (subclass of)
- Graphics API: IRIS GL
- Freebase identifier: /m/03wh9bd
- Wikidata YSO ID: 20187
- Sitelink count across Wikipedia editions: 3 (English, Spanish, Korean)
- Wikipedia title: IrisVision

## FAQs
### Q: What made IrisVision different from other PC graphics cards of 1991?
A: It was the first PC expansion card to deliver Silicon Graphics' IRIS GL workstation-class 3-D and imaging pipeline, giving desktop machines the same graphics library used on SGI's professional workstations.

### Q: Which company designed and sold IrisVision?
A: Silicon Graphics (SGI) manufactured and marketed the card; it was not a third-party clone but an official SGI product meant to extend their graphics ecosystem onto standard PCs.

### Q: Is IrisVision the same as an Iris workstation?
A: No. Iris workstations are complete SGI computers; IrisVision is only an add-in card that brings IRIS GL capabilities to an existing PC, not a standalone workstation.

## Why It Matters
IrisVision broke the wall between proprietary workstation graphics and commodity PCs. In 1991, high-performance 3-D was locked inside expensive SGI boxes; IrisVision let developers, scientists, and content creators add an SGI-designed board to a standard PC and immediately run IRIS GL applications. This meant visualization software, CAD models, and early virtual-reality projects could be built and displayed on affordable hardware without sacrificing the advanced features of the IRIS GL API. By porting its own silicon to the PC bus, SGI acknowledged the growing power of open PC standards and quietly accelerated the shift that would eventually bring 3-D acceleration to the mass market. For historians, IrisVision is a key waypoint that shows how workstation vendors tried to colonize the PC ecosystem before consumer 3-D cards like 3dfx took over.

## Notable For
- First commercial graphics card to bring Silicon Graphics IRIS GL to the PC platform
- Designed and manufactured by SGI itself, not a licensed third party
- One of the earliest expansion cards explicitly marketed to bridge workstation-class 3-D with desktop computers
- Maintains the same graphics API (IRIS GL) used across SGI's entire workstation line, ensuring software compatibility

## Body
### Overview
IrisVision is an expansion card released in 1991 by Silicon Graphics. It fits into a standard PC expansion slot and adds a complete IRIS GL-compatible graphics subsystem to the host machine.

### Technical Context
IRIS GL (Integrated Raster Imaging System Graphics Library) is SGI's proprietary graphics API that preceded OpenGL. By embedding the same hardware pipeline found in its workstations onto a PC card, SGI allowed existing IRIS GL applications to run unchanged on a PC fitted with IrisVision.

### Market Position
At launch, IrisVision sat between low-end VGA cards and full SGI workstations. It targeted engineers, researchers, and content creators who needed IRIS GL features but could not justify purchasing an entire SGI system.

## References

1. YSO-Wikidata mapping project