First optical network linking high-resolution visualisation centres for Earth, ocean sciences and homeland securitySan Diego 04 March 2002 Two California universities, a California Institute for Science and Innovation, and four California-based companies unveiled the world's first visualisation complex dedicated to Earth and ocean sciences, linking wide-screen, "immersive" environments over a 2.5 gigabit-per-second optical network. The group also dedicated a permanent Visualisation Center at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), linked to a similar facility at San Diego State University (SDSU) through 44 miles of optical fiber, with optical switches and 3.2-million-pixel screens at each end.
The universities, together with the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal-(IT)2), are creating a prototype for collaborative scientific analysis that could also be used as a "command-and-control" facility for crisis management. "Analysis facilities for complex scientific data sets can also serve as prototypes for real time analysis of the environment or the health of civil infrastructure during and after natural or man-made disasters, if they are engineered with this dual use in mind", stated Larry Smarr, director of Cal-(IT)2 and a professor of computer science and engineering at UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering. "This is the first phase of our plan to build such living laboratories in southern California."
The optically-networked visualisation centres allow groups of researchers at both locations to collaborate in real time on large data sets in the form of 3D images projected on high-resolution wall-sized screens. Initially, teams at both universities will share data and collaborate on analysing seismic and climate studies for the High Tech Coast (from Santa Barbara to San Diego); the interior structure of Earth, including its oceans and atmosphere; the variability in California's water supply; fault-related deformation as seen from space; the structure and dynamics of coastlines; and the impact of global warming on Earth's climate.
The new Cal-(IT)2 Visualization Center at Scripps is located at Scripps' Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) in La Jolla. It is anchored by a large curved screen and 3D projection system, built by Panoram Technologies Inc., and powered by an SGI Onyx 3400 visualisation system. John Orcutt, IGPP's director and a professor of geophysics at Scripps, sees the centres as a potential prototype for a network of command-and-control centres to deal with crisis management and public safety during natural or civic disasters, displaying data and images from cameras and other sensors in the field.
The Scripps centre is connected to SDSU's Center for Immersive Telecommunications for Global Exchange by optical fiber and services furnished by Cox Communications Inc. The optical switches at both ends are supplied by TeraBurst Networks Inc. All four companies are industry partners of Cal-(IT)2, a joint venture of UCSD and UC Irvine, and the link is routed through a network access point at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) on the UCSD campus. SDSC will both support and use the Visualization Center, providing support for analysis of large geographic data sets by its Data and Knowledge Group.
The Visualization Center at Scripps is built around a Panoram GVR-120E curved floor-to-ceiling screen (8'6"X28'4") featuring 3.2 megapixel resolution (3,276,800 pixels). The "immersive" environment is ideal for groups of up to 60 people who can view the same large-format images at the same time. The system is equipped with transmitters and LCD shutter glasses which permit stereographic 3D viewing of high-resolution images. The three projectors use advanced technology to automatically blend the edges where their video outputs meet.
The SGI Onyx 3400 technology driving the system is equipped with InfiniteReality3 graphics and 16 processors. For the first time ever, two immersive visualisation centres will be able to share wall-to-wall images in real time. The Visualization Center at Scripps is linked to SDSU's facility via high-bandwidth optical fiber installed by Cox Communications.
The massive amount of data to be transmitted instantaneously between the two centres requires a new type of high-performance, optical networking platform. TeraBurst Networks developed WAVS (Wide Area Visualization Solution) to address that need. WAVS is based on high-bandwidth technology that is capable of aggregating video, audio and LAN data into optics and connecting disparate locations at data rates required for real time collaboration.
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