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3D Projection Facility

The TCB's stereo projection facility was established in the summer of 1993 to create an interactive visual environment for computational molecular modelling, specifically for our software package VMD. While it has gone through many upgrades through the years, its general setup has remained fairly unchanged - a projected computer screen serves as a window to three dimensional images which are easily viewed by groups of up to eighteen people. This offers an ideal setting for collaborative endeavors and allows several researchers to discuss, visualize, and modify a given molecular system and present results in real time.

Configuration

Projector

Our primary projector is a Christie Digital Mirage 2000. Its DLP technology offers 2000 lumens of brightness, nearly ten times as bright as our previous-generation projector; this allows us to leave the lights on while using the system and also offers a significantly crisper image than older technologies. It supports both active and passive stereographic display; we take advantage of the active-stereo for our work. Finally, its configuration and maintenance is quite simple, requiring just a few minutes of initial configuration.

We also have a smaller, quieter InFocus LP530G projector, which is used instead of the Mirage 2000 for sharing a laptop display during short meetings and simpler work. This serves to reduce wear and tear on our larger, more-expensive projector.

Visualization Computer

The software visualizations are performed on a SunFire V880z server, the highest-end visualization computer currently available on the market. The graphics are provided by a pair of XVR-4000 video boards; each has over a gigabyte of texture memory and offers unprecedented anti-aliasing capabilities for the best possible visual image, and is powerful enough to let us work with large volumetric data sets such as electron density maps, electron orbitals, and time-varying spatial occupancy grids. These boards are designed for 3D simulation, allowing us to stereographically view our large molecular systems in the best conditions available. As of today, there are no other video boards in its class. The server itself has 32GB of memory and four 1.2GHz processors, allowing us to simulate and analyze systems significantly larger and more complex than any our existing machines have allowed to date.

The server is actually located across the hall in our main server suite; this allows us to keep the main facility cooler and quieter. There are actually two sets of displays - a pair of 21" CRT monitors is used to display the output from each of the XVR-4000 boards for the person running the actual demos, and the left monitor is mirrored to the projector. The images provided by the visualization server are sent over Extron Video Distribution Amplifiers; the keyboard and mouse are extended with an NTI USB extender.

3D Stereo

Additional hardware is necessary to take advantage of the active stereo capabilities of the projector and computer. Our facility uses four 3D CrystalEyes emitters from StereoGraphics to broadcast the stereo signal throughout the room; three of emitters are mounted on the ceiling near the screen, and one is mounted on the CRT monitors.

Screen

A high-quality silvered screen is required to properly view stereo images. This requirement is fulfilled by a Stewart Videomatte 2000 Electriscreen Model AB, which offers high-contrast and an excellent image size. The screen can be retracted into the ceiling when not in use.

Input Devices

In addition to the standard keyboard and mouse inputs, our 3D facility takes advantage of a pair of 3D input devices for cutting-edge control. The simpler device is a SpaceBall input device, which offers direct 3D control of our software. For more complex operations we use a SensAble PHANTOM haptic input device, which offers precise 3D positioning and force-feedback with our simulations.

History

• Aug 2005 - bristol is moved away, and asuncion becomes the primary machine running the 3D facility.
• Mar 2005 - Mirage 2000 projector arrives and is installed, replacing the Electrohome 8500LC.
• Oct 2004 - LP530G projector is installed in the 3D facility, to reduce load on the primary projector.
• Apr 2004 - asuncion, the SunFire V880z, arrives and is installed for local testing.
• Summer 2002 - bristol becomes the primary machine running the 3D facility.
• Apr 2002 - bristol and cardiff, two SunBlade 2000s w/XVR1000 graphics, are purchased and installed, and begin testing to run the 3D facility.
• July 2000 - cancun becomes the primary machine running the 3D facility.
• Summer 2000 - the original Electrohome projector is replaced with a newer Electrohome 8500LC Ultra w/fast P43 green phosphor, with a more permanent ceiling mount. cancun, a Sun Ultra 80 w/Expert3D graphics, is purchased and installed.
• Spring 2000 - the projection screen is upgraded to a Stewart Videomatte 2000 Electriscreen, with hard-mounted CrystalEyes 3D Emitters on the ceiling.
• Winter 1998 - PHANTOM Haptic device is purchased and installed.
• Summer 1997 - titan, an SGI Onyx2, is installed to run the viz facility. The primary projector is an Electrohome 8500LC Ultra w/fast P43 green phosphors.
• Summer 1993 - initial facility development and installation.

Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology // National Institutes of Health // National Science Foundation // Physics, Computer Science, and Biophysics at UIUC
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