The Renaissance Computing Institute at the UNC Chapel Hill facility is designed to encourage multidisciplinary collaboration and the use of cutting-edge computing, networking and visualization tools for research and education.
The new Teleimmersion Room at the Manning Information Technology Services building at UNC-Chapel Hill enables users in different geographical locations to collaborate in real time in a shared, simulated environment as if they were in the same physical room. In a tele-immersive environment, computers track movements and images and then project them in realistic, geographically distributed immersive environments where people can interact with each other and with computer generated models.
The Teleimmersion Room includes:
- Two Sony SRX-R105 4k projectors for 3D stereoscopic viewing (native resolution: 4096 x 2160)
- A 10’ x 5’ rear-projected screen
- 3D stereoscopic scientific visualization
- 3D viz-augmented telepresence videoconferencing research
- Membership to CineGrid, which explores digital transmission of 4k images worldwide
The Showcase Room at the new Manning Information Technology Services building at UNC-Chapel Hill incorporates the latest in tools for demonstration and research. It is used by researchers and scientists to visualize a wide variety of research data, and serve as an educational tool for students to help them understand complex concepts through high-resolution and 3D imagery.
The centerpiece of the Showcase Room is a 15-foot diameter tilt dome display with four SXGA+ projectors. The system, capable of displaying content from a variety of image generation devices, such as picture-in-a-picture, full dome or partial dome, will run automated presentations and live interactive visualizations. The dome is fitted with full digital surround sound to provide users an immersive experience with a 180-degree field of view.
Collaborators
Masaya Konishi, UNC-Chapel Hill Facilities Planning
Lee Becker, Hartman-Cox
Ray Jazinsky, Rogers-Hardin
Surinder Hunjan, SEOS
RENCI at UNC-Chapel Hill’s new Manning Information Technology Services building supports the use of visualization technology and advanced computational methods. The state-of-the-art facility includes a Social Computing Room that features 12 NEC WT610 projectors that create a 360-degree 768 x 12,288 display for virtual worlds such as Second Life as well as other immersive and interactive experiences.
Collaborators
Masaya Konishi, UNC Facilities Services
Lee Becker, Hartman-Cox Architects
Ray Jazinsky, Rogers-Hardin
The technology-enhanced Collaboration Center, located on the 2nd floor of the Health Sciences Library (HSL) at UNC-Chapel Hill, fosters creativity and peer-to-peer learning among multidisciplinary research teams through a combination of technology staff expertise, and supporting library services and facilities. RENCI’s partnership with HSL has provided a synergy of expertise and technologies for a uniquely rich and accessible collaboration environment.
The HSL Collaboration Center showcases leading-edge visualization and collaboration technologies that can be used for research that spans disciplines, campuses, states and nations, for clinical services, community outreach initiatives or educational programs. Through the Collaboration Center, students in Chapel Hill can tune in to a biomedical conference taking place across campus or across the Atlantic. Researchers can share data, visualizations, and applications with colleagues around the world and local research teams can visualize their data in stunning high definition.
Collaboration Center features:
- A high-resolution 10 ft x 8 ft rear-project display wall, capable of resolution of 12.5 million pixels (4,096 x 3,072 pixel native resolution). New collaborative applications can be enabled through the ability to interact with very high-resolution imagery inches from the screen.
- The Vidyo videoconferencing system, which provides a direct link to RENCI headquarters and its collaboration facilities. Users can collaborate in real-time and share data and applications with multiple groups worldwide.
- A whiteboard that captures notes and diagrams during brainstorming sessions.
- A range of software tools, workstations, and LCD projection systems that aid collaborative learning and research.
