Difference between revisions of "Infrastructure"

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===StarCAVE===
 
===StarCAVE===
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<td>[[Image: greg-320.jpg]]</td>
 
<td>[[Image: greg-320.jpg]]</td>
<td valign="top">The StarCAVE consists of five walls with three screens each, plus a floor we project on. Two [http://www.projectorcentral.com/JVC-DLA-HD2K-SYS.htm JVC HD2K projectors] generate a stereo image for each screen, plus four projectors for the floor, totalling 34 projectors in the StarCAVE. Every projector pair is driven by an Intel quad core Dell XPS computer running under [http://www.rocksclusters.org ROCKS/CentOS], with dual [http://www.nvidia.com/object/quadro_fx_5600_4600.html Nvidia Quadro 5600] graphics cards. 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 [http://ar-tracking.eu ART Tracking]. It consists of four IR cameras and a Flystick2 3D joystick. We currently support two software environments to drive the StarCAVE: [http://www.hlrs.de/organization/vis/covise/ COVISE] and [http://www.evl.uic.edu/rlk/electro/ Electro]. The StarCAVE is located on the first floor of Atkinson Hall in room 1608a.
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<td valign="top">The StarCAVE consists of five walls with three screens each, plus floor projection. Two [http://www.projectorcentral.com/JVC-DLA-HD2K-SYS.htm 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 [http://www.centos.org/ CentOS Linux version 6], with dual [http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-285 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 [http://ar-tracking.eu ART Tracking]. It consists of four infrared cameras and a Flystick2 3D joystick. We currently support two software environments to drive the StarCAVE: [http://ivl.calit2.net/wiki/index.php/CalVR Calit2's own CalVR] and [http://www.hlrs.de/organization/vis/covise/ 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 [http://atkinsonhall.calit2.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=136:starcave-content&catid=45:general&Itemid=146 booked on recharge].
 
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===Varrier===
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===NexCAVE===
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<td>[[Image: P1010013-320.jpg]]</td>
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<td valign="top">The [http://www.evl.uic.edu/cavern/rg/20040820_dan/ Varrier] wall consists of 60 LCD monitors, arranged in a semi cylinder. It displays autostereoscopic images, which means that the user can see 3D without glasses. The resolution of the wall is roughly 40 million pixels per eye. The system consists of 16 dual AMD Opteron workstations, each equipped with 4GB RAM, 2.0 TB RAIDed disk arrays, dual gigabit ethernet network ports, and dual Nvidia Geforce 7900 video cards. Each rendering node drives four 20" NEC LCD monitors at 1600x1200 pixels per screen, totalling 155.2 million pixels on the entire wall. The operating system is Suse Linux 10.0. We support two software environments to drive the Varrier: [http://www.evl.uic.edu/rlk/electro/ Electro] and [http://www.hlrs.de/organization/vis/covise/ COVISE]. For head tracking and user input we use a wireless, optical tracking system from [http://ar-tracking.eu Advanced Realtime Tracking (ART)] with a Flystick2 3D joystick. The Varrier is located on the first floor of Atkinson Hall in room 1608a.
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===Virtulab===
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<td colspan="2">The Virtulab is a dynamic visualization laboratory, which currently houses a NexCAVE, REVE, SAGE wall, 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 [http://www.cinegrid.org/ CineGrid] and ON*VECTOR networking and 4K experiments.</td>
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<td valign="top">[[Image: NexCAVE.jpg]]</td>
 
<td valign="top">[[Image: NexCAVE.jpg]]</td>
 
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<td valign="top">
*NexCAVE: The NexCAVE was inspired by Calit2’s StarCAVE virtual reality environment 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 10 JVC xpol (cross polarized) panels, arranged into 3-columns, and produces data resolution close to human visual acuity (defined as “20/20 vision”). The Calit2 NexCAVE has an effective resolution of 6,000x1,500 pixels per eye, while the full 21-panel, 7-column KAUST version has an effective resolution of 15,000x1,500 pixels per eye. The JVC HDTV xpol panels are very bright, which means that, unlike the StarCAVE, 3-D data in motion can be viewed under normal room light levels. The NexCAVE is powered by 5 Intel quad core Dell XPS computers running under [http://www.rocksclusters.org ROCKS/CentOS], with dual Nvidia 285 graphics cards, with an additional XPS machine as the head node to control the rendering cluster. For user tracking and interaction, we use a wireless, optical tracking system by [http://ar-tracking.eu ART]. It consists of two IR cameras and a Flystick2 3D joystick. We currently support two software environments to drive the NexCAVE: [http://www.hlrs.de/organization/vis/covise/ COVISE] and CGLX.</td>
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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 [http://ar-tracking.eu 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.</td>
 
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===TourCAVE===
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<td valign="top">[[Image: KAUST-REVE.jpg]]</td>
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<td valign="top">[[Image: TourCAVE.jpg]]</td>
 
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*REVE: 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 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 alioscopy displays, or one column) and 1 head node. Each node has 2 GTX280 NVIDIA graphics cards, and allocates one graphics card per display.</td>
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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 (7560x3840 pixels). The TourCAVE is powered by 7 high end graphics PCs with dual Nvidia GeForce 580 graphics cards. We use an [http://www.ar-tracking.com/products/tracking-systems/smarttrack.html ART Smarttrack] system for head and wand tracking, and use a [http://www.gyration.com Gyration Gyromouse] as the input device. Both [http://www.hlrs.de/organization/vis/covise/ COVISE] and [http://ivl.calit2.net/wiki/index.php/CalVR CalVR] are installed in the TourCAVE.</td>
 
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===WAVE===
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<td valign="top">[[Image: SAGE_Wall.jpg]]</td>
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<td valign="top">[[Image: WAVE-320.jpg]]</td>
 
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*SAGE Wall: Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment, or [http://www.evl.uic.edu/cavern/sage/index.php SAGE], is a graphics streaming architecture for supporting collaborative scientific visualization environments with potentially hundreds of megapixels of contiguous display resolution. The network-centered architecture of SAGE allows collaborators to simultaneously run various applications (such as 3D rendering, remote desktop, video streams and 2D maps) on local or remote clusters, and share them by streaming the pixels of each application over ultra-high-speed networks to large tiled displays (OptIPortals). The SAGE wall in the Virtulab is a 3x2 configuration of 52" NEC panels, with a resolution of 5760 x 2160 pixels. One machine, a 3rd party clone, runs the SAGE wall, with 3 G-Force NVIDIA 9800 GT graphics cards. Each graphics card runs two displays.</td>
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The WAVE is a TourCAVE turned on its side. By mounting the screens in a cylindrical shape, we minimize ghosting issues with them. And by mounting them horizontally, we allow for more viewers to see images without ghosting.
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The WAVE consists of 35 3DTVs from LG with a 55" diagonal and narrow bezels. The displays support passive stereo with circular polarization at full HD resolution. The system displays about 35 million pixels per eye. It is powered by 19 graphics PCs with dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 graphics cards. We use an optical tracking system and input device from [http://www.ar-tracking.com AR Tracking].
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*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 52" NEC flat panels and a JVC 4K projector. Data can also be moved to the Calit2 Auditorium for additional 4K testing.
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===C-Wall===
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===The Big Wall in the Vroom===
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<td valign="top">[[Image: Vroom.jpg]]</td>
<td valign="top">The C-Wall (configurable wall) is a dual screen, flat 3D display, driven by a Dell XPS computer with dual Nvidia Quadro 5600 graphics cards, running under CentOS Linux 5.3. The computer drives four JVC HD2k projectors with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels (HD), projecting on a 8 by 8 foot screen from the rear. We use circular polarization filters to separate the stereo images. For tracking we use an electro-magnetic [http://www.ascension-tech.com/products/flockofbirds.php Ascension Flock of Birds] system with head tracking and a [http://www.wandavr.com Wanda] input device. The concept of the C-Wall is described [http://www.evl.uic.edu/core.php?mod=4&type=1&indi=234 here]. The software driving our C-Wall is [http://www.hlrs.de/organization/vis/covise/ COVISE]. The C-Wall is located on the sixth floor of Atkionson Hall in room 6307.
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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 NEC X551UN LCD displays 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 [http://www.vicon.com/ 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 CentOS 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: [http://vis.ucsd.edu/~cglx/ CGLX], [http://ivl.calit2.net/wiki/index.php/CalVR CalVR] and [http://www.evl.uic.edu/core.php?mod=4&type=1&indi=281 SAGE].
 
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===Digital Theater===
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===Auditorium===
  
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<td valign="top">[[Image: telepresence-320.jpg]]</td>
 
<td valign="top">[[Image: telepresence-320.jpg]]</td>
<td valign="top">Calit2's digital theater 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 [http://www.sony.com/sxrd/ Sony SRXD-R110] 4k projector (4096x2160 pixels resolution). The control room houses the following 4k-relevant hardware:
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<td valign="top">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 [http://www.sony.com/sxrd/ 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.
 
* An NTT hardware codec, which can play back JPEG2000 compressed 4k video with multi-channel audio at 24 or 30 frames per second.
 
* A [http://www.zaxel.com Zaxel] video server with lossless compression to playback and record 4k video.
 
* A [http://www.zaxel.com 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 [http://www.ascension-tech.com/products/flockofbirds.php Ascension Flock of Birds] tracker with a [http://www.wandavr.com 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 [http://www.christiedigital.com Christie] with a resolution of 1600x1200 pixels, and a remote control system by [http://www.crestron.com Crestron] which allows presenters to connect their laptops and control video and audio directly from the podium.
 
Other equipment used in the digital theater includes a digital light mixer, a conventional projector by [http://www.christiedigital.com Christie] with a resolution of 1600x1200 pixels, and a remote control system by [http://www.crestron.com Crestron] which allows presenters to connect their laptops and control video and audio directly from the podium.

Revision as of 11:27, 6 May 2015

Contents

StarCAVE

Greg-320.jpg 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

NexCAVE.jpg 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

TourCAVE.jpg 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 (7560x3840 pixels). 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.


WAVE

WAVE-320.jpg

The WAVE is a TourCAVE turned on its side. By mounting the screens in a cylindrical shape, we minimize ghosting issues with them. And by mounting them horizontally, we allow for more viewers to see images without ghosting.

The WAVE consists of 35 3DTVs from LG with a 55" diagonal and narrow bezels. The displays support passive stereo with circular polarization at full HD resolution. The system displays about 35 million pixels per eye. It is powered by 19 graphics PCs with dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 graphics cards. We use an optical tracking system and input device from AR Tracking.

The Big Wall in the Vroom

Vroom.jpg

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 NEC X551UN LCD displays 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 CentOS 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.

Auditorium

Telepresence-320.jpg 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.

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.