Infrastructure

StarCAVE

The StarCAVE consists of five walls with three screens each, plus floor projection. Two JVC HD2K projectors generate a stereo image for each screen, plus four projectors for the floor, totalling 34 projectors. Every projector pair is driven by a Dell XPS computer running under CentOS Linux version 6, with dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 graphics cards and a 10 Gigabit NIC. We use an additional XPS machine as the head node to control the rendering cluster, for a total of 18 nodes. For user tracking and interaction we use a wireless, optical tracking system by ART Tracking. It consists of four infrared cameras and a Flystick2 3D joystick. We currently support two software environments to drive the StarCAVE: Calit2's own CalVR and COVISE. But any Linux-compatible OpenGL-based application can be ported to the StarCAVE. The StarCAVE is located on the first floor of Atkinson Hall in room 1608a and can be booked on recharge.

NexCAVE

The NexCAVE was inspired by the StarCAVE and designed and developed by Calit2 Research Scientist Tom DeFanti, Virtual Reality Design Engineer Greg Dawe, Research Scientist Jürgen Schulze and Visualization Specialist Andrew Prudhomme. The Calit2 NexCAVE includes of 17 JVC Xpol (cross-polarized) panels, arranged into five columns, and produces data resolution close to human visual acuity (defined as “20/20 vision”). The Calit2 NexCAVE has an effective resolution of 10,000 x 1,500 pixels per eye. The JVC HDTV Xpol panels are very bright, which means that, unlike the StarCAVE, the NexCAVE can be used under normal room light levels. The NexCAVE is powered by 9 high end graphics PCs running under CentOS 6, with dual Nvidia 480 graphics cards. An additional graphics PC serves as the head node to control the rendering cluster. For user tracking and interaction, we use the optical tracking system TrackPack by ART Tracking. It consists of two infrared cameras and wireless tracking targets. A Saitek game pad serves as the input device. We support the same software environments as in the StarCAVE. The NexCAVE cannot be reserved separately, but is part of any StarCAVE reservation.

TourCAVE

The TourCAVE is a lower cost version of the NexCAVE. It consists of 14 65" LG 3DTVs which we turned on their sides. The displays support passive stereo with circular polarization at full HD resolution. Our system has roughly 28 Megapixels, or 14 Megapixels per eye. The TourCAVE is powered by 7 high end graphics PCs with dual Nvidia GeForce 580 graphics cards. We use an ART Smarttrack system for head and wand tracking, and use a Gyration Gyromouse as the input device. Both COVISE and CalVR are installed in the TourCAVE.

The Big Wall in the Vroom

The Big Wall in the Vroom (Virtual Room) is a tiled display environment with four rows of eight displays for a total of 32 narrow-bezel LCD displays from NEC with a 55" screen diagonal. Each of the displays has full HD resolution (1920x1080 pixels), adding up to 66 million pixels on the entire wall (15,360 x 4,320 pixels). We also support multi-channel audio, and use a four-camera optical tracking system from Vicon. All displays have been attached in 2x2 patterns to mounting structures, which are either installed in movable containers (OptiPortables) or suspended from above. The displays in the Big Wall are driven by 16 rendering PCs running Linux, each with dual Nvidia Geforce 580 graphics cards. Additionally, there are three separate control PCs (head nodes), each of them set up for one of the three supported software environments: CGLX, CalVR and SAGE.

Virtulab

The Virtulab is a dynamic visualization laboratory, which currently houses the TourCAVE, the REVE, and a LifeSize video-teleconferencing (VTC) device. Funded by a special partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the Virtulab serves as a working prototype/research environment for many KAUST visualization areas. Collaboration between Calit2 scientists at UC San Diego, the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and KAUST allows for ongoing research in 2D, 3D, and auto-stereo visualization. The Virtulab also serves as a prime testing environment for CineGrid and ON*VECTOR networking and 4K experiments.
	The Rapidly Expandable Virtual Environment (REVE) uses lenticular screens to present limited-depth auto-stereoscopic images to viewers without the use of any glasses. The REVE at Calit2 is made up of 6 tiled (3 panels x 2 panels) Alioscopy high-definition displays, where tiling the displays helps to make up for loss of resolution inherent in the auto-stereo presentation (the system in the picture is KAUST's, which consists of 18 displays). The REVE multiplexes 8 views, and it has multiple "sweet spots", which makes it ideal for small group viewing. The REVE is powered by 4 HP XW8600 computers, which makes up the 3 nodes (each node runs two displays, or one column) and one head node. Each node has dual GTX280 NVIDIA graphics cards, and allocates one graphics card per display.
	CineGrid and ON*VECTOR Networking and 4K Experiments: The Virtulab is also a prime staging and testing environment for CineGrid and ON*VECTOR 4K networking experiments. The Virtulab utilizes 3DTV displays and a JVC 4K projector. Data can also be moved to the Calit2 Auditorium or Theater for additional 4K testing.

Auditorium

Calit2's digital theater auditorium offers 200 seats with power and ethernet jacks in every seat. The high end technical equipment installed in this room allows it to be used for anything ranging from presentations with Powerpoint slides, video screenings, presentations of visual and performance art, to demonstrations of the future of digital cinema: 4k video on a 18 by 32 foot screen. Among the technical highlights of the auditorium are: a 20 channel surround sound system, high definition (HD) video playback from computers or digital HD tapes, real-time virtual reality with a 3D tracking system, and a Sony SRXD-R110 4k projector (4096x2160 pixels resolution). The control room houses the following 4k-relevant hardware: An NTT hardware codec, which can play back JPEG2000 compressed 4k video with multi-channel audio at 24 or 30 frames per second. A Zaxel video server with lossless compression to playback and record 4k video. A Dell XPS workstation with dual Nvidia Quadro 5600 graphics cards, which allows for real-time computer graphics in 4k. We use an Ascension Flock of Birds tracker with a Wanda input device on the show floor to interact with the virtual environment. Other equipment used in the digital theater includes a digital light mixer, a conventional projector by Christie with a resolution of 1600x1200 pixels, and a remote control system by Crestron which allows presenters to connect their laptops and control video and audio directly from the podium.