Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14320
n n n n Scientific Visualization Sky High Cutting-edge technology enables out-of-this world experiences By Karen Moltenbrey At the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS), visitors can step into the theater of the Gates Planetarium and be transported to another world. Or Universe. Or Galaxy. If they prefer, they can also get a unique perspective of what is happening on their home turf, the planet Earth, by examining it from space. And real “homebodies” can enjoy a visual experi- ence of the sights and sounds that are more down to earth: a theatrical or concert experience, for example. Tese journeys—whether impromptu (real time) or planned (pre-ren- Ka Chun Yu, curator at the Gates Planetarium, continues to expand his work in immersive virtual environments. Most recently, he worked on the museum’s Black Holes show. dered)—are made possible through the planetarium’s use of the latest digital offerings: supercomputer-level hardware, projection technology, and 3D soft- ware. Like many such facilities across the US, the Gates Planetarium underwent a major makeover of sorts about a decade ago, when the facility’s mechanical Minolta star projector and other aged equipment yielded to the digital revolu- tion. As a result, the universe at the Denver planetarium became much larger and more stunning for audiences. But even the brightest stars will burn out eventually—some more quickly than others. Immediately following the renovation, the planetarium boasted the most impressive high-resolution imagery powered by a 30-processor SGI Onyx 3800 visualization system with an 11-channel InfiniteReality4 graphics subsystem. At the time, that specialized supercomputer system was the bleeding edge—and the only equipment available to handle this type of complexity. Tat system drastically expanded the number of stars that could be seen virtually, from several thousand to several billion. And with the high-resolution CGI, those stars were no longer just points of light, but an intense visual experience. But over the years, more flexible technology emerged, and more recently, those SGIs were replaced by hardware that was less expensive in terms of the cost and the manpower needed to use and maintain the specialized architecture. To- day, HP workstations with Intel processors are enabling the planetarium’s mis- sions. Because of this change, the planetarium was able to revamp its software platform; now it supports both Linux (for scientific applications) and Windows (for more basic functions). Tis, in turn, opened what had been, in essence, a specialized, closed architecture. It also opened the door to far more visualization possibilities and opportunities. Te planetarium’s impressive star power is particularly evident in its real-time capabilities, enabling the host to take stargazers to the ends of the known uni- verse—or to a friend’s backyard. What’s more, the high-resolution imagery in 44 July 2010 Images © DMNS.