http://www.dri.edu
	Fall 2006

$14.4 million from legislature to make 3-D scientific research a virtual reality

It’s no secret most people learn and understand better when they can see what they are studying and are physically involved in the process. Scientists are no exception.

The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is just as true in science where a picture may be worth a thousand—or a million or a billion—data points. Seeing an object in three dimensions and being able to manipulate it allows researchers to solve problems faster, less expensively and in new ways. It sometimes provides for unexpected insights about otherwise obscure phenomena. It also helps scientists communicate hard-to-understand findings to public audiences.

Visualization technology is quickly becoming a cornerstone of world-class science and is vital for any institution that aims to be in the forefront of scientific research and education. In continuing its philosophy of producing cutting-edge science, the Desert Research Institute is bringing visualization technology to its northern Nevada campus with a combination of federal, state and Department of Defense-sponsored appropriations.

(From l. to r.) University of Nevada, Reno computer science graduate students Joe Jaquish and Michael Penick try out a demonstration on the four-sided CAVE™, while Technical/Acting Director of the Center for Advanced Visualization, Computation and Modeling, Bill Sherman looks on. As part of a partnership with UNR’s computer science department, students are using their experience with the CAVE™ installation as part of their thesis, a class project or as a job to enhance their resumes. The students also are writing programs and creating tools and graphics to assist DRI researchers with visualizing their work.

To expand DRI’s capabilities in environmental computing, modeling and simulation to a world-class level, Nevada’s congressional delegation, led by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., sponsored a federal appropriation to establish an advanced visualization capability at DRI. An initial appropriation of $3 million was made in the 2004 fiscal year to support the first phase of this initiative, which included purchasing equipment, acquiring staff and building a four-sided CAVE™, which has been installed and is currently being tested. An additional federal appropriation request of $6 million was approved from the 2005 defense budget to build a six-sided CAVE™ (four walls, floor and ceiling) that will launch learning to a new level.

A recent appropriation of $14.4 million by the State of Nevada will allow DRI to complete its new computational research and visualization building that will house the six-sided CAVE™.

“My gratitude goes to the Governor, the legislature, the Board of Regents and the Chancellor for coming together to make this building a reality for DRI,” President Steve Wells said.

The state-of-the art facility, new faculty and equipment will provide scientists across DRI with hardware and software to create interactive, three-dimensional projections on a screen, on a wall, or on all the walls of a room. The experience is sometimes called “virtual reality.”

Reminiscent of the famed “holodeck” on the television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” users walk into a 10-foot by 10-foot room in which each of its six walls is a huge computer screen. Donning high-tech goggles and with the click of a mouse, scientists can become or look at virtually anything: they can become a perchlorate molecule, launching into a fast-moving stream like white-water rafting along a watershed, or a U.S Army tank commander who will be test driving a newly designed armored vehicle through a desert dust storm.

As one of the nation’s premier research institutes in the environmental sciences, DRI will use its new visualization capabilities to support scientific research and education in the atmospheric, hydrologic and ecological sciences. The institute increasingly will be able to offer any client a full suite of visualization services, from the single-wall interactive stereo currently in use, to four-sided simulations late this year, to total-immersion simulations by 2008.

“Sometimes environmental exploration involves hard-to-reach places or even dangerous ones, like underground aquifers, thermal springs or the surface of Mars, so being able to conduct research in the safety of a visual laboratory with the freedom to create and re-create a situation or environment in a matter of seconds means we will make great strides in less time, with less difficulty,” Wells said. “Three-dimensional visualization research will allow our scientists to work at the cutting-edge level they need to for the best results.”

–Heather Emmons