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Special Section Trend Report >> Good News
5/26/2005
versatile, and can be used for2D, 3D, or stereo production of single, large-scale continuous images (see the image below). This capability is particularly useful when working with satellite imagery of geographical areas, and thus, not surprisingly, has immediate implications for homeland security and environmental protection initiatives. Yet, the tiled wall can also be used to display different graphics on each individual screen, or a combination of screens in the grid can be utilized for a variety of media displays. Image generation for the tiled wall is driven by a cluster of 12 high-performance PCs with high-end graphics cards.Access Grid. The Envision Center places a premium on collaborating with researchers and student groups throughout the world, and the Access Grid (AG) at the center helps to make that possible. The Access Grid is an ensemble of resources that includes multimedia large-format displays, presentation and interactive environments, and interfaces to grid middleware and visualization environments. (For more on AGs, go to www.accessgrid.org). The AG allows participants from many geographically distant sites to communicate and collaborate with each other easily and inexpensively (see the visual, right). But unlike traditional videoconferencing, it runs over Internet2, using open source software developed by Argonne National Laboratory (www.anl.gov). The software is quite flexible, allowing each site to operate using a variety of hardware setups that range from individual laptop-based nodes to large classrooms with multiple projected displays. And by creating shared applications and tools, the AG also allows participants to share more than just video streams. In Spring 2004, the Envision Center developed an Introduction to Virtual Reality course jointly taught by faculty at Purdue and Indiana University, via the Access Grid. The class was also offered in Fall 2004 by Purdue and Iowa State University. Notably, a student in the spring class launched the development of AGJuggler, a toolkit that allows sharing of virtual environments and stereographics over the Access Grid.
Other capabilities. Over and above these components, the Envision Center also features a variety of elements such as high-resolution displays and portable stereo displays that can be used in classrooms to enhance instruction through the use of stereo graphics, sensing and haptic devices (a haptic device allows a user to interact with a computer by receiving tactile feedback), nano-manipulation haptic devices, and other high-performance computing resources. These elements allow researchers at the Envision Center to focus on pure research activities also. For example, at the recently concluded Measured Response Workshop organized by the Purdue Homeland Security Institute (
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