WestGRID CV Focus Areas and Projects

Collaboration Focus: Large-scale, distributed, multimedia collaboration

This focus area complements the research in the Visualization Focus Area through the creation of a collaborative hardware and software infrastructure to support large-scale, distributed, multimedia collaborations. The infrastructure will support widely diverse systems with highly variable display, interaction, and networking capabilities. Such an infrastructure will provide a mechanism for scientists to effectively collaborate with remote colleagues, without requiring an in-depth understanding of the technologies involved.

The infrastructure will support a wide variety of display technologies (PDA, laptop, desktop, GridStation, GridRoom, and VisRoom), interaction technologies (PDAs, tablet PCs, touch sensitive screens, 3D interaction technologies, haptics, and sound), and networking technologies (cellular wireless, 802.11 wireless, LAN, WAN, and advanced optical networks). Central to this research focus will be the integration of many of the projects in the Visualization Focus Area into the collaboration environments that are developed for WestGRID.

This integration of the visualization infrastructure with the collaboration infrastructure will provide WestGRID researchers with the ability to explore their data with distant colleagues in ways that were previously extremely difficult or impossible. Through a collaboration between the UofA and BigBangWidth (Funded by WED) we will also explore how the newly developed BigBangWidth high-speed switch (capable of delivering an amazing transmission speed of 15Gb/s without any switching delay) can solve many of the problems relating to networking problems associated with these applications.

Projects

NewMIC/NRC Advanced Collaborative Environments (ACE) Project

  • Summary: The ACE program is exploring how people interact with each other, using technology, over potentially large distances. Our focus is on how advanced collaboration technologies will allow users to collaborate with each other easily, efficiently, and effectively. The goal of the program is to maximize the Quality of Experience (QoE) of the end user over a wide range of technology platforms. Critical to this work is the fact that QoE is a human centered measure not a technology-centered measure. Thus we want to maximize a human perception based on a rich and diverse set of factors. These factors include, but are not limited to:
  • Networking (broadband, wired, wireless, and cellular wireless)
  • Interaction (3D tracking, touch sensitive devices, voice recognition, mouse, keyboard)
  • Display (Immersive displays, wall, table top, desktop, laptop, tablet, PDA, cell phone)

Fundamental to this project is the creation of an architecture to support advanced collaborative environments. The architecture is an open one, allowing for the extensible creation of collaboration services and the ability to deploy those services on a wide range of technology platforms. This architecture provides the capability to manage the complexity of the problem domain but does not require tools to be written for the architecture explicitly. That is, the architecture plays a managing and integrating role for the technologies involved but does not dictate the use of specific technologies.

  • People
  • NewMIC: B. Corrie (Project Leader), H. Wong, T. Zimmerman, R. Scharein, M. Ihara
  • UBC: K. Booth
  • SFU: J. Borwein, L. Bartram, R. Ballantyne
  • UoA: P. Boulanger
  • UofC: L Katz, R. Levy, D. Mitchell
  • Timeline/Milestones
  • December 2002 (NewMIC)
  • Initial prototype of WestGRID QoE CoLab
  • NewMIC GridRoom/GridStation(s) operational
  • December 2002 (UCalgary)
  • UofC GridRoom operational
  • March 2003 (NewMIC)
  • NewMIC GridRoom/GridStation(s) integrated into WestGRID QoE CoLab
  • May 2003 (UCalgary)
  • GridStations defined and under construction
  • June 2003 (NewMIC)
  • Tiled display wall integrated into WestGRID QoE CoLab
  • Passive stereo display wall integrated into WestGRID QoE CoLab
  • August 2003 (NewMIC)
  • Solutions server integrated into WestGRID QoE CoLab
  • SFU, UoA, UoC GridRoom/GridStation integrated into WestGRID QoE CoLab
  • WestGRID QoE CoLab deployed for WestGRID users for testing
  • September 2003 (UCalgary)
  • Rollout of GridStations at EVDS and Kinesiology VR Lab
  • December 2003 (NewMIC)
  • Commodity visualization server integrated into WestGRID QoE CoLab
  • December 2004 (NewMIC)
  • Advanced collaboration and visualization services and capabilities integrated into WestGRID QoE CoLab
  • December 2004 (UCalgary)
  • Advanced collaboration and visualization services and capabilities integrated into WestGRID QoE CoLab
  • Budget Items
  • NewMIC
  • Networking
  • IML Room Improvements (GridRoom)
  • Video Conferencing (GridStation)
  • Video Conferencing (GridRoom)
  • Tiled Display Wall (Phase 1)
  • Passive Stereo Display (GridStation)
  • Expansion Access Grid Node (GridRoom)
  • Personal Access Grid Nodes (GridStation)
  • AV Equipment (GridRoom)
  • Miscellaneous
  • UCalgary
  • Networking to Kinesiology VR Lab and EVDS Design Studio planned and implemented.
  • IRStudio Improvements (GridRoom)
  • Development of Personal Access Grid Nodes (GridStation)
  • Collaborators
  • NRC Institute of Information Technology, Ottawa
  • NTT Japan
  • Mt. Allison University (Andrew Paskauskas)
  • Sheridan College (Walt Winchell)

SFU CoLab

  • Summary: The CoLab technology matrix is anchored by five Smart Technology interactive touch-screens: 2 wall-mounted plasma screens, 1 high-resolution projected display, 1 table-inset touch-screen plasma display and a portable touch-screen display (currently outside in the CECM), meant to be used in remote situations and connected back to the CoLab. Additional computing devices include a wide variety of heterogeneous handheld, wireless and standard computing devices.

User input methods include direct touch, indirect (mouse), keyboard, handwriting recognition, OCR and paper-capture. Input and data needs to be easily and flexibly migrated across devices and displays without excessive latency. The anticipated outcomes include: the identification of techniques to capture, integrate and distribute visualization and input modalities across various devices; identification of capture, archiving, transcoding and reformatting issues when using heterogeneous devices in arbitrary collections of display and interaction components; and the development of expertise so that these technologies can be used at other WestGrid sites.

  • People
  • SFU: J. Borwein (Project Leader), L. Bartram, R. Ballantyne
  • UBC: K. Booth
  • NewMIC: B. Corrie, H. Wong, T. Zimmerman, R. Scharein
  • UofC: L. Katz, R. Levy, D Mitchell
  • Timeline/Milestones
  • June 2003 (SFU)
  • Four months after receiving funding the main collaboration grid in SFU will be operational and ready for use for AG-based collaboration between the SFU and NewMIC (including documentation for deployment of similar installations at other WestGRID sites). The main collaboration will include the base level AccessGrid and H323 technology between all sites.
  • ???? (SFU)
  • In parallel, the CoLab technology matrix will be integrated for input and output distribution and capture, tying in the large interactive touch screens, the whiteboards and smaller personal devices. An event framework, the EventHeap from Stanford, and accompanying multi-device display configuration (PointRight) will be installed and evaluated as a unifying event architecture. How these frameworks fit with the QoE will be studied and reported.
  • December 2004 (SFU)
  • In the second year of the project, based on the success of the above two tasks, this research will be extended to include real-time input sharing with remote displays and interactions (using the portable touch-screen/laptop system) and remote display sharing, so that inputs from multiple users can control a single virtual shared display. This will include developing the tiled displays further (passive stereo tiled displays and/or very high-resolution tiled displays) or deploying the current level of tiled displays at other WestGRID locations. This phase will be developed in year two of the WestGRID project.
  • Budget Items
  • Collaborators
  • UofC; IRStudio, Kinesiology VR Lab, EVDS Design Studio

BanffCentre - VIC Project

  • Summary:Banff will integrate our Collaboration Laboratory and our Visualization Laboratory. Add passive display system that will allow participants in a meeting to visualize simulations in stereo. This will provide WestGrid with an additional test site for 3D collaboration that allows science and mathematics researchers to share and manipulate objects over networks.
    Researchers Sheelagh Carpendale and Saul Greenberg will develop presentation and collaboration tools. Data e updated and changed based on researcher needs. Scientists from WestGrid will come to Banff New Media Institute to test the tabletop and software through ‘03-04
  • The researchers will combine the physical infrastructure of the tabletop as group collaboration system with visualization capacities. Gesture based communication will be a component of the research. (Carpendale and Greenberg)
  • Collaboration software tools will support: distanced based collaboration sharing data (Carpendale); Single display groupware (Carpendale and Greenberg); Distributed Collaboration (Carpendale and Greenberg)
  • People:
  • UoC: Sheelagh Carpendale, Saul Greenberg
  • Banff: Sara Diamond, Susan Kennard
  • Timeline/Milestones:
  • May, 2003: Summit on collaboration methodologies
  • May, 2003: Establish Banff Centre collaboration laboratory
  • September 2004: Toolkit will enable WestGrid researchers to test and share data.
  • September 2004: Research summit-on visualization and collaboration--that includes a public presentation and press coverage of research results from collaboration and visualization toolkit and activities.
  • Budget Items:
  • Networking
  • Collaboration Laboratory Creation (GridRoom)
  • Video Conferencing with High Quality Audio (GridRoom)
  • Researcher Cluster Laboratory (Collaboration Environment Design)
  • Passive Stereo Display and Conferencing (GridStation)
  • Establish Access Grid Node (GridRoom)
  • Personal Access Grid Nodes (GridStation)
  • AV Equipment (GridRoom)
  • Comparative Applications for Video and Internet Conferencing
  • Collaborators:
  • TR Labs, Georgia Institute of Technology, Alberta College of Art and Design, University of Surrey Computer Science, UK, National Research Council, BIRS, CNICE Project (developing collaboration tools for disabled)

The Banff Centre Tool and Applications Comparison Project

  • Summary: Working with researcher Boulanger, we will build a grid station that will incorporate passive 3D display. This will allow desktop immersive communication and data display. Banff will provide a second site in addition to U. of A., for this technology, its deployment and analysis in the research process. The Collaboration Laboratory is located in the Banff New Media Institute facilities and will be linked to the WestGrid Visualization Laboratory. This facilitates groups of researchers working on different aspects of a problem. It allows research on comparative experiences in collaboration between the collaboration environment and an immersive 3D-visualization environment.
    Banff will provide off-the-shelf and alternate research technologies (such as dialogue visualization tools under development at MIT and Microsoft) that it will make available to the network. Once familiar with the Grid environment, researchers who choose to participate can test the qualities of these tools with the assistance of Banff Centre researchers.
    We will use the Laboratory to support researchers in science, mathematics and collaboration itself.
  • People:
  • UoC: Sheelagh Carpendale, Saul Greenberg
  • Banff: Sara Diamond, Susan Kennard
  • Deliverables/Milestones:
  • April, 2003. Collaboration laboratory will be functional and operational for testing by the end of April, 2003. We will provide access for on-site WestGrid researcher, BIRS (Banff International Research Station) and user testing.
  • May, 2003: BNMI Collaboration summit with a public presentation May 22-25th, 2003 that will include WestGrid researchers, consider progress and show results from collaborative visualization research conducted by Carpendale January-April, 2003.
  • Collaborators:
  • TR Labs, Georgia Institute of Technology, Alberta College of Art and Design, University of Surrey Computer Science, UK, National Research Council

Visualization Focus: Visualization applications, tools, and infrastructure

Summary: In this focus area we are developing application, tools, and infrastructure for advanced visualization. This includes the development and deployment of new visualization applications, new visualization hardware technologies, and tools to facilitate the use of visualization technologies by non-visualization experts. Most research projects in this focus area will work towards integrating these visualization tools into the collaboration infrastructure being developed as part of the Collaboration Focus Area. This integration is done through combining existing computational and visualization applications, new visualization applications and tools, and new visualization technologies into the collaboration framework.

Projects

Advanced Mathematical Visualization Suite (Application/Tool)

  • Summary: Most existing mathematical software packages are not designed to support collaborative work or even to interface directly with other software. Part of our initial effort will be to integrate a number of software tools into a collaborative framework we call the Advanced Visualization Suite. Some progress has already been made in this area, in the sub-fields of topology and geometry. We intend to extend the suite to include tools from all fields of mathematics where researchers use computers to solve computationally difficult problems or as an aid to forming new insights and investigating conjectures.
    In order to properly support collaborative work in mathematics, it is important to allow researchers to work together across diverse conditions, possibly using widely different computer architectures. These may range from highly localized and visually rich environments such as the IML at NewMIC, to a hand-held device being used at a conference (with a possibly limited internet bandwidth). Not all existing software tools will scale well across this range. Our research will involve understanding these boundaries, and providing guidelines to enable developers to write software that can best cope with many different degrees of visual richness.
    In addition to integrating existing software tools into our collaborative environment, we intend to build new software that is designed from the ground up to support collaboration (either local or remote). We plan to propose new implementation standards to allow future researchers to more easily convert their applications to allow collaboration and sharing of data objects.
    As the word implies, visualization has meant using graphical techniques to represent data and to aid in its comprehension. Although this will remain the major part of our focus, we will also extend visualization to other modalities, such as sound and haptics.
    Pierre Boulanger, Jonathan Borwein, BNMI (Diamond) and NewMIC will develop a 3D model of mathematical data that allows navigation of this data in the cave environment. Diamond will study the use of different platform for the presentation of these models. She will compare the research issues, questions that can be addressed and comfort with interaction that arise from the visualization versus the collaboration space.Borwein will place his modeling tools at Banff for BIRS researchers and others to use and for the Banff team to test and evaluate.
  • People
  • SFU: J. Borwein (Project Leader), L. Bartram, J. Tolmie
  • UBC: K. Booth
  • NewMIC: B. Corrie, H. Wong, T. Zimmerman, R. Scharein
  • UofC: L. Katz, R. Levy, D Mitchell
  • UoA: P. Boulanger
  • Banff: S. Diamond and Design Group
  • Timeline/Milestones
  • March 2003
  • Build out of IRStudio with SMART board and enhanced display capabilities
  • May 2003
  • Preview at Collaboration Summit, Banff Centre May 22-24th
  • June 2003
  • Evaluation of networking needs and formulation of proposal to ensure sufficient connectivity between collaborative sites.
  • July 2003
  • ICIAM 2003
  • September 2003
  • Integration of stereo visualization systems into GridRooms
  • Testing on distribution of stereo visualization imagery between collaborating sites.
  • December 2003
  • Identification of Showcase Research Project(s) that will only be possible using this technology
  • March 2004
  • Results assessment and evaluation
  • Budget Items
  • NewMIC
  • TerraVision Visualization Server (GridStation)
  • Passive Stereo Display System (GridStation)
  • Tiled Display Walls (Phase 1 and 2)
  • IML Room Improvements (GridRoom)
  • Networking (Infrastructure)
  • UofC
  • Integration of touch screen video displays into existing GridRoom
  • Integration of interleaved stereo projector and projection surface into GridRoom
  • Evaluation of visualization needs for GridStations
  • Collaborators
  • UofC: IRStudio, Kinesology VR Lab, EVDS Design Studio

Collaborative Virtual Environment Development Tools

  • Summary: This project will take existing expertise and tools to the next level. Using software packages such as Virtools, Sense8 and interface devices such as the CyberMIND head mounted display (HMD), JesterPoint motion capture system, and the VRex 4200 projector, the team will work to identify and mount demonstration applications that can be run over a broadband network for interactive experience by remote users.

These devices and expertise combined with digitizing devices such as the Cyberware head and model scanners, and the Cyrax 3D scanner for scanning building sized objects, create ordered data clouds that can be processed to enable models of objects, buildings and other large items to be brought into virtual environments. Once proven over distance, these technologies should allow HPC researchers to more easily visualize data from their particular applications and discover new ways of interpreting and sharing the data generated by their activities on the WestGRID cluster.

In addition, materializing devices such as the Thermwood CNC Router and the Stratasys Genisys 3DPrinter allow digitally modeled objects to take operational concrete form for further analysis and appreciation by researchers.

  • People:
  • UofC: L. Katz, R. Levy, D Mitchell, D. Gadbois
  • UofA: Robert Lederer
  • Timeline/Milestones
  • May 2003 Testing of Software performance over distance
  • Identification of suitable test subject material
  • November 2003 first demonstration
  • Budget Items
  • UCalgary
  • Networking
  • AccessGrid enhancement
  • Software Renewals and Upgrades

Earth Magneto-dynamics Simulation/Visualization

  • Summary: This project involves the creation of a collaborative visualization system for the earth dynamo simulations. This ongoing project is part of collaboration between Dr. Moritz Heimpel from the Department of Physics and Dr. Boulanger from the Department of Computing Science. A major problem for modern four-dimensional computational simulations is that they generate large volumes of data at a much faster rate than can be effectively processed using standard storage and visualization techniques.

The main goal of this project is to build an advanced system for interactive, real-time visualization of computational planetary dynamo simulations. The dynamo code is a modified version of Magic2 (J. Wicht, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 2002). Time scaling of typical dynamo simulations is such that it is presently feasible to observe the motion of convection and magnetic variations in a way similar to a laboratory experiment.