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MEDIA CONTACTS: Doug Ramsey, Cal-(IT)2 FOR RELEASE: Monday, March, 4, 2002 CALIFORNIA
INSTITUTIONS UNVEIL FIRST OPTICAL NETWORK LINKING HIGH-RESOLUTION VISUALIZATION
CENTERS FOR EARTH, OCEAN SCIENCES
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," said 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 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 3-D projection
system, built by Panoram Technologies, Inc., and powered by an SGI®
Onyx® 3400 visualization system. "The Visualization Center
at Scripps takes our ability to visualize and understand huge environmental
and other data sets to a new level," says John The Scripps center is connected to SDSU’s Center for Immersive Telecommunications for Global Exchange (C IT Global E) by optical fiber and services furnished by Cox Communications, Inc. (NYSE:COX). 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. "This technology will empower researchers, urban planners and others to analyze satellite imagery, seismic hazards, bridge structures under stress and other 3-D data sets and collaborate more effectively for the public good," said Thomas Scott, Dean of SDSU’s College of Sciences. "We see this link across San Diego eventually expanding across California–and someday the world." The SGI Onyx 3400 technology
driving the system is equipped with InfiniteReality3™ graphics
and 16 processors. "SGI is pioneering Visual Area Networking, and
the Cal(IT)2 project demonstrates how these systems provide
the infrastructure for collaborative, group decision-making environments,"
says Jan Silverman, the company’s Senior VP, Marketing. "No
other company can offer large systems with advanced visualization capability
to geographically distributed audiences, whether they are distant company
offices sharing images over the Internet, scientists or workers in remote
field settings or command-and-control centers of the type implemented
at Scripps." For the first time ever, two immersive visualization centers 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. "Education has always been a cornerstone of Cox Communications outreach, so we are delighted to be linking San Diego’s two premier academic institutions," states Steve Gautereaux, VP of Network Management for Cox Communications. "Our company is a leader in broadband communications, and these wide-screen environments at UCSD and SDSU underscore the growing need of, and benefits from, the fiber optic-based network we have developed." The massive amount of data to be transmitted instantaneously between the two centers 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. "We are excited to be part of this unique effort to connect two separate immersive environments, bringing them into a virtual space that will expedite collaboration and decisions," says TeraBurst chief operating officer Tom Myers. "It is currently the only solution of its kind that will allow video, audio and data to be transmitted simultaneously over the wide area optical network to multiple, remote centers focused on immersive visualization for several disciplines—including Earth sciences, telemedicine, astronomy, oil and gas, manufacturing and energy." Note to Editors: High-resolution photos of the Visualization Center at Scripps can be downloaded from http://siovizcenter.ucsd.edu. About Scripps
About IGPP About Cal-(IT)2
About Cox Communications
About Panoram Technologies
About SGI
About TeraBurst Networks # # #
Judith Morgan
Jennings, Cox Communications John Watson,
SGI Marty Morgan,
Panoram Patricia
Ivanoff, TeraBurst ###
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Two
leading California universities, a California Institute for Science
and Innovation, and four California-based companies today unveiled the
world’s first visualization 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 Visualization 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
optically-networked visualization centers allow groups of researchers
at both locations to collaborate in real-time on large data sets in
the form of 3-D images projected on high-resolution wall-sized screens.
Initially, teams at both universities will share data and collaborate
on analyzing 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. 
Orcutt,
IGPP’s director and a professor of geophysics at Scripps. "Multiple
researchers will now be able to collaborate in a whole new way–thanks
to the huge screen and 3-D graphics that can immerse a roomful of viewers
into a virtual environment, letting them share data in a way not possible
until now." Orcutt sees the centers as a potential prototype for
a network of command-and-control centers 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
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. "We are talking about
at least Visualization Centertwenty times the bandwidth of network television,"
says Theo Mayer, President and CEO of Panoram Technologies. "A
system like this one will change the way scientific visualization is
done, just as it already has changed the working methods and cultures
of industries such as oil/gas and aerospace that use high-resolution
computer imaging and modeling." The system is equipped with transmitters
and LCD shutter glasses which permit stereographic 3-D viewing of high-resolution
images. The three projectors use advanced technology to automatically
blend the edges where their video outputs meet.