VRAC Exhibit at Supercomputing 2002

Time/Location

Date: November 19–21, 2002
Location: Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Booth Number: R3111

Exhibit Abstract

The Virtual Reality Applications Center at Iowa State University is actively creating tools to enable science, engineering, humanities, and art disciplines to apply emerging technologies in visualization and computing to their areas of interest. Our Open Source tools, VR Juggler, Plexus, and Tweek, provide the infrastructure for collaborative cross-platform interactive environments, integrating heterogeneous systems, including high-end systems, PC graphics clusters, mobile devices like PDAs, and web-based videconferencing. To demonstrate our technology, the exhibit will include:

1. Computational Humanities: integration of immersive environments, digital storytelling, and virtual humans to provide a virtual experience of a Hindu Temple equivalent to visiting the actual temple accompanied by an expert.
2. Collaborative Engineering: A factory environment to simulate and evaluate assembly sequences, inventory control, design analysis and related activities. Engineers can join in the discussion using the computing and display resources available at each one of their sites.
3. Ashes to Ashes: An interactive tribute to September 11, 2002. Participants’ actions trigger complex dance/music “vignettes”, which reflect World Trade Center survivors’ stories.