# Presentation: 787414

## Brown & SWOF : Overview and Current Status

** ****Brown University**
**TCASCV (Technology Center for Advanced Scientific Computing & Visualization)**

**SWOF Kick-off Meeting 11/13/02**

## Background

**1999 ****TCASCV founded to develop local parallel computing and IVR visualization systems for Brown research community, in partnership with IBM**
**Initial systems SP-based, with legacy SGI Onyx-2 for graphics development**
**New systems cluster-based, with Intellistation cluster and pending IBM Scalable Graphics Engines as primary graphics platform**

## Research

**Current Research**
**user interfaces for IVR, focused on visualization**
**scalable graphics with IBM**
**Application-driven**
**internal and external**
**Arterial blood flow**
**Flow-gradient tensor field brain visualization**
**Planetary terrain visualization (Mars Global Surveyor)**
**Digital Archeology (Great Temple of Ancient Petra)**
**Molecular Visualization **
**Extension of U/I in CEI’s Ensight **

## VR Systems at Brown 1/2

**TCASCV VR applications laboratory**
**Displays**
**4-wall Cave - TAN VR-cube (8-foot edge)**
**1-wall Brown-built (6-foot edge), single CRT projector**
**3 tracked workstations (Fishtank VR)**
**Tracking**
**Intersense IS-900 (for Cave, wall and workstations)**
**Polhemus Fastrak (Cave; device prototyping because of small receiver size)**
**Ascension Flock (workstations; selected for DC field)**
**Devices**
**6DOF Wanda, Fakespace pinch gloves, Intersense wand & stylus, wireless iPAQ**
**Brown-built (paint brush table, finger sleeve, lazy susan)**
**IBM Scalable Graphics cluster – 48 Intellistations and two SGE-3 framebuffers**
**UNC’s VRPN tracking and interaction device server**

**Notes:**
Use Ascension’s DC magenetic field because DC-based tracking is much less susceptible to interference from inductive currents set up in any conductive material in the tracked field. Fishtank vr, with monitors makes AC problematic

Polhemus is used in cave because tracking receivers are smaller, and because cave is made of wood, but even so, cables, metal stud-wall, re-bar in floor cause significant distortion.

Intersense, which uses microgyroscopes and microaccelerometers, and triagulated ultrasonics for positional correction, is more accurate and less latent, but is larger, with poorer ergonomics than mag.

## VR Systems at Brown (2/2)

**Computer Science Graphics Lab**
**Fakespace Desk (Intersense IS-900 and Polhemus Fastrak)**
**Cognitive Sciences and Linguistics VENLab**
**Kaiser HMD**
**custom Intersense IS-900 large-area tracking (approx. 30’x40’)**

**Notes:**
Worked with InterSense to install first Cave IS-900 system.  Ongoing feedback & early testing.

## Computing platforms at TCASCV

**160 CPU SP (aging, mixed-node)**
**48 node dual-Athlon cluster, Gig-E**
**62 node dual-Xeon cluster, Myrinet 2000 and Gig-E (48 nodes are Intellistation graphics cluster rendering nodes)**

## Brown’s role in SWOF

## Remote Rendering Services	

**IBM 48 node cluster**
**- dual processor (1.7 Ghz Xeons)**
**- Quadro4’s**
**- Myrinet **
**- Chromium**
**Status**
**  ****- Cluster configuration finished this week**
**  ****- installing AG software soon**
**  ****- interested in Chromium interface**

## AG Node

**Status****- High priority; currently looking for space****- Temporary setup by early 2003**
**   ****- Permanent setup by late 2003**
**Interested in augmenting AG node for**
**   ****- Fishtank stations**
**   ****- Powerwall**
**   ****- Cave**

## 3D Audio Development: Motivation

**Cues in Visualization Applications**
**Scene Sources/Ambience in Artistic Apps (e.g., Prof. Coover’s Cavewriting)**
**Telecollaboration**

## 3D Audio Development: Directions

**Mac-based server**
**XML interface**
**Max/MSP (**_**[www.cycling74.com](http://www.cycling74.com/)**_**) with IRCAM’s  SPAT (**_**[www.ircam.fr](http://www.ircam.fr/)**_**)**
**Windows-based server**
**Creative Audigy**
**OpenAL (**_**[www.openal.org](http://www.openal.org/)**_**) with EAX  extensions under Chromium**
**Parallel OpenAL server extensions (barrier/semaphore semantics, a la Cr rendering server)**
**OpenAL provides natural OpenGL-like framework for audio scene rendering**
**Looking into extending Chromium**

## Molecular Biology “virtual lab” 

**Growing area at Brown.***Departments***: Neuroscience, Pathology, Immunology, Biology, Molecular Biology ...**
**Packages we’re interested in:*****Bioinformatics*****: BLAST, PSI-BLAST, CLUSTALW, PSI-PRED, Threader, ProFit, GeNIe/SMILE, EMBOSS ...*****Structural Informatics*****: GROMOS, GROMACS, **NAMD**, AutoDock, CHARMM, ECEPPAK*****Local Databases:***** EMBL, Swiss-Prot, TrEMBL, InterPro, NR, FSSP, Pfam, ProDom**

## Software: Status 

**Currently only computational-chemistry packages (GAMESS, NAMD, Jaguar..)**** **
**Currently hiring group to manage installation of large MolBio software base.**** **
**Focus is on MolBio - much more demand than Atmospheric/Oceanic software.**

## What Brown brings to SWOF

**Expertise in U/I development, with current focus on IVR U/I**
**Semi-Immersive/Immersive display and rendering cluster test-bed**
**Positional audio rendering systems development**
**Expertise in systems integration**
**Expertise in computational chemistry and molecular visualization**

## What Brown Expects to Gain from Participation in SWOF

**Development of research collaboration, and interaction with other SWOF members**
**Optimization of Brown’s AG infrastructure**
**Development of local computational biochemistry research resource framework**