Media Release

For Immediate Release

June 4, 2008

New Data Cave at Saint Mary's lets scientists walk into 3-D images

A researcher explores the inside of a molecule in the University's new ACEnet Data Cave.

Imagine standing at the centre of a tornado and looking closely at the winds swirling around you. Imagine stepping into a computer game or walking around the rooms of your yet-to-be-built dream home. All these imaginings are now possible at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.

On June 10, the Institute for Computational Astrophysics (ICA) will host the grand opening of the new ACEnet Data Cave at Saint Mary’s University.

The Data Cave is a virtual reality environment that will allow researchers to visualize graphic representations of phenomena based on scientific calculations. For example, if an astrophysicist is studying how light and heat swirl away from an exploding star, the data can be entered into a computer and the exploding star will appear within the Data Cave. The scientist can then walk into and around a three-dimensional image of the exploding star.

The three-dimensional experience is made possible by eight projection systems in the ceiling and behind the screens that serve as walls of the Data Cave.  The cubic viewing space is about the size of a standard bedroom. Two projectors shine on each wall and the floor; one projects what your right eye should see and the other projects what your left eye should see. The projectors are shuttered out of phase with each other 60 times a second, as are the electronic glasses the viewer wears, so that the image for the right eye is displayed when the right eye of the electronic glasses is open, and the same for the left eye.

But the experience is more than you’d have with 3-D glasses at the movie theatre. In the Data Cave, a special motion tracking system monitors your location with sensors in the electronic glasses, and as you move around the room the cameras adjust the placement of the three-dimensional projections to compensate, so it feels like you’re literally moving into and around the image. The scientists call it an immersive virtual environment and the experience is like you are inside a real object.

The ACEnet Data Cave is powered by Sun Ultra™ 40 M2 workstations, running simulations created on a cluster of Sun Fire™ X2200 servers. The 3-D visualization equipment and advanced visualization software is provided by Sun in partnership with Mechdyne Corporation, a leader in immersion technology.

 “The recent expansion of the Saint Mary’s University Science Building included a purpose-built room that is a great location for ACEnet Data Cave,” said Chris Clover, CEO of Mechdyne Corporation, the company that designed and installed the visualization system.  “It is really a fantastic environment for research and scientific collaboration and we are proud to have had the opportunity to a part of the program’s success.”

“If a picture is worth a thousand words, the visual representation of a Data Cave model is worth a million lines of code,” said Lynne Zucker, Director of Education and Research Markets, Sun Microsystems Canada Inc. “The ACEnet Data Cave at Saint Mary’s University is a shining example of how Sun’s powerful high performance computing and high-end visualization capabilities benefit real-world research that has put Canada on the world innovation stage. ACEnet is one of Sun’s most important academic research partners and we look forward to the exciting discoveries that will result from the Sun-powered Data Cave.”

The Institute for Computational Astrophysics (ICA) was formed in late 2001 to promote computational research into astrophysical questions. It requested the Data Cave as part of an ACEnet funding proposal to the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), in order to visualize three-dimensional hydrodynamic and magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of astrophysical phenomena. Funds for the purchase of the Data Cave were provided to ACEnet by CFI, with matching funds from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the Nova Scotia Research and Innovation Trust.

The Atlantic Computational Excellence Network (ACEnet) is a consortium of Atlantic Canadian universities formed to acquire and operate large-scale high performance computing (HPC) facilities for research. The group includes Saint Mary's University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of New Brunswick, Mount Allison University, Dalhousie University, St. Francis Xavier University, the University of Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton University and Acadia University.

ACEnet's goal is to provide world-class research computing facilities to help researchers realize their full potential and to allow regional universities to attract and retain the best faculty and students to Atlantic Canada. Through ACEnet, researchers have the tools to attract partnerships with private enterprise that otherwise could go to universities outside the Atlantic region. More than 160 research projects are currently drawing on ACEnet’s high performance computing power, which run on server, storage and software from Sun Microsystems. 

The Data Cave is located on the first floor of the north end of Saint Mary’s newly renovated Science Building, and is available for use by all ACEnet members. It was installed in early summer of 2007.

The grand opening of the Data Cave on June 10 will be limited to invited guests, but tours of the facility can be arranged for members of the media.

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For more information:

Blake Patterson
Public Affairs Officer
Saint Mary's University, Public Affairs
(902) 420.5514
E-mail: blake.patterson@smu.ca
www.smu.ca