Fakespace Systems develops US$4.5 million visualization system for Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos 07 August 2001 Fakespace Systems was awarded a $4.5 million U.S.)contract by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The contract calls for Fakespace Systems to design, build and install several custom visualization systems at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The large-scale visualization systems will include new high-brightness, stereoscopic digital projection technology. Multiple Mirage 2000 graphics projection systems, from Christie Digital Systems, will be tiled into a custom- designed, large format WorkWall display system for viewing extremely large computer data sets in very high-resolution detail. Capable of displaying 31 million pixels, the full system is expected to be the largest display of its type ever built.
Fakespace Systems previously installed large-scale visualization systems for the
DOE at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1999 and 2000, with the goal of
providing better ways for scientists to understand nuclear weapons phenomena
through immersive visualization. The new WorkWall systems will be used to
display some of the world's largest and most complex simulations, which were
developed for the Department of Energy's Accelerated Strategic Computing
Initiative (ASCI). As a key part of the DOE's stockpile stewardship program,
ASCI uses extensive experimental programs and computer simulation to maintain
the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile without underground
testing.
The new visualization systems will be installed in the Strategic Computing
Complex (SCC), one of the most sophisticated simulation and computing facilities
in the world. The SCC will house more than 200 nuclear weapons scientists,
engineers, and designers, and will provide large-scale visualization
laboratories as well as a very large-scale visualization theater. The SCC also
features an uninterrupted computer floor the size of a football field, and will
house the largest supercomputer in the world. Called "Q," this system, built by
Compaq Computer Corporation, will be capable of performing calculations at 30
Tflop/s. Deliveries against the $4.5 million order are scheduled to occur during fiscal
2001 (ending September 30, 2001) and fiscal 2002.
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