CURVS e-Science 2010

Justin Baker

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CSIRO Tiled Displays - Background

• Two large OptIPortals deployed at CSIRO • 25x30” displays, 5x5 grid, 14 clustered PCs• >100Mpixel resolution • Ongoing interaction research

• Multi-touch tabletops, portable devices

• Gesture input, touch points mapped to display-wall

• Tap to select, drag-and-drop using multi-finger gestures

• CSIRO eResearch Program • Signed off in 2009• Visualisation recognised as one of several key enabling

technologies• Formation of eResearch Viz Team (Dec 2009) • Initial idea to fund 2-3 more large OptIPortals

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1. Small OptiPortal EOI Proposed locations at 10 separate sites

CSIRO Visualisation

• Instead of OptIPortals...• EOI announced in Nov 2009

• 4 submissions representing11 systems• Genomics, environmental monitoring, materials, human factors.

• Commonalities – exploring large/complex datasets, collaborative real-time viz, associated video-conferencing

• Hardware now assembled at all avail sites• Finalising details for software configuration

• Automated session management, simplified authentication, app set up, tiled display layout

CSIRO Ultra high Resolution Visualisation Systems

CURVS Possible Use Cases

• Large scale visualisation• Very large 2D datasets and potentially 3D• Examples: astronomical data, GIS, microscopy

• Viewing a range of datasets simultaneously• Compare multiple similar datasets• Lots of separate displays not necessarily related

• Portable “visualisation lab”• Group might book the facility for a designated period

• Collaborative viewing• Controlled/driven remotely

• “Moving Poster”• Conference, public presentations etc

CURVS Specifications

• Relatively simple design• Standard Dell hardware

•1x 3D Visualisation head node• 3D hardware capable (FX5800)

•1x Single 2D “Display node” (ATI)• 6 x 30” monitors • Total resolution of around 24Mpixels• 12x improvement on a standard desktop PC

CURVS Architecture

CURVS Visualisation Software

• VirtualGL• Remote visualisation, virtualised graphics• Allows for shared remote collaborative viewing• Access to Linux visualisation software for Windows users

• VirtualBox• Sun open source virtualization solution• A combination of VirtualBox and VirtualGL lets you display

Windows 3D applications remotely

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CSIRO Visualisation CURVS Vs OptIPortal

CURVS OptIPortal

Software Stack

VirtualGL, VirtualBox SAGE, CGLX, DMX..

User Apps Most run without mods Recompilation, porting required

Display driven by

Single node (more can be added)

Multiple nodes

Multi OS apps VirtualBox = Win, Mac, Linux

No?

VisualCasting Any VNC client OptIPortal only

Bandwidth Tuneable through VNC client

Fixed?

Resolution Moderate to high-res High to very hi-res

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CSIRO Visualisation CURVS Issues

• VirtualGL• Low frame rates at large screen sizes

• VirtualBox• Windows texture mapping (occasional)

• TurboVNC• Best VNC client with VirtualGL but crashed when window

resized too large (fixed)• Desktop (Nautilus?)

• Strange key mapping (template file fixed)

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CSIRO Visualisation Plans for 2010-2011

• Finalise 1st Round CURVS deployment• Customise group specific apps and configurations• Trial WA specific screen config (2x3 instead of 3x2)• Complete by Jan 2011

• Revisit CURVS Design• PIR of 1st round• Improve design – eg more displays, diff graphics cards• Assess demand for 2nd round and/or full-scale OptiPortals

Justin Baker ASC Collaboration and Visualisation Manager

Phone: 03 86013801 Email: justin.baker@csiro.au

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