The Distributed Virtual Windtunnel

An implementation of a distributed virtual environment for the shared interactive visualization of large unsteady three-dimensional flowfields is described. Computation of the visualizations are performed on a Convex C3240 computer, and the visualization data is transferred over a high-speed network to a Silicon Graphics Iris workstation for rendering. A boom-mounted six degree of freedom head-position-sensitive stereo CRT system is used for display. A hand position sensitive glove controller is used for controlling various tracers (e.g. "smoke") for the visualization of the flow. User commands are sent to the Convex, which interprets these commands and computes the corresponding visualization. With this architecture, several users may share and cooperatively control the visualization generated by the Convex. The distributed architecture is also interesting to those using conventional screen and mouse interfaces. This work extends the work of Bryson and Creon Levit [1] in th...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1992
• Where: SC
• Authors: Steve Bryson, Michael J. Gerald-Yamasaki
• Keywords: Applied Computing, Convex C3240 Computer, SC 1992, Virtual Environment, Visualization Data