Renaissance Computing Institute

Resources

The Renaissance Computing Institute at 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.

RENCI Immersive Hemispherical Display Environment
Access Grid node
HSL Collaboration Center
Social Computing Room

The RENCI Immersive Hemispherical Display Environment is a display system designed for viewing and interacting with highly effective three-dimensional computer graphics and virtual environments. Located in room 1101 of the Manning Technology Services building, the multi-projection system has a tilted 15’ diameter dome and a tiled display surface that is five meters in diameter. It is driven by four projectors and a collection of computers. Three to 20 people can be accommodated at one time to fully captivate the realistic visual environment, often compared to as a planetarium or IMAX theater. The system can display both movie animations and interactive real-time graphics at a resolution of 3 million pixels. The Immersive Hemispherical Display Environment is an ideal choice for multi-user, multi-sensory display for simulation, training, design, engineering, product display, energy exploration & production, education, medical services and entertainment. Users have the ability to look at very high resolution images; test and stage elaborate displays. Researchers can visualize scientific data from simulations of colliding black holes to models of hurricanes and hurricane storm surges.

Using the ACCESS Grid Node, audio and video teleconferencing can be combined with shared computation; visualization and/or multimedia channels to provide a rich virtual venue for group-to-group interactions and sharing of information among remotely located participants in real time. Located in the Social Computing Room (#1102) of the Manning Technology Services building, the Access Grid Node has screen space to display up to 60 connections. The projectors light up the room to display a 360-degree view on the four projection walls.

The HSL Collaboration Center, in room 237 of the renovated Health Sciences Library at UNC Chapel Hill, was developed in partnership with RENCI in 2005. 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.

The Social Computing Room includes visualization, collaboration and immersive technologies that allow people to share data and communicate in virtual worlds and over long distances. The room features 12 NEC WT610 projectors that create a 360-degree 768 x 12,288 pixel display for virtual worlds such as Second Life and other immersive and interactive experiences. A history class, for example, might use the display to recreate ancient Rome in high resolution. Artists might use RENCI's Second Life island as a venue to display electronic artwork.

Currently, RENCI's Second Life island is being used to create a prototype virtual disaster response center. The center includes a 3D map, which can show emergency response vehicles moving across the map and other real-time events. The disaster management center has various levels and real-time data displays and allows response teams from the campus, local, state, and national levels to come together to share data, coordinate resources, simulate disaster and rescue scenarios, and improve their plans based on the latest data.