An Image-based Visualization Interface for Scientific and Engineering Applications Sun-In Lin, Fang-Pang Lin and Yui-Chung Chen National Center for High Performance Computing, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan September 2001 Royal Pines Resort Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Morale Model-based vs Image-based for Visualization –Ever increased computing power with ever increased computing-resource-hunger applications, e.g. Bioinformatics, CFD etc. –Internet prevails and help forming a heterogeneous distributed and parallel computing environment. There is a trend on an approach of thin client and fat server. The thinnest clients tend to be wireless. The fattest server tends to be supercomputers. –Those scientists and engineers working from place to place require both HPC resources and the ability to visualize the results from usual computers.

Model-based vs Image-based for Visualization Model-based Visualization –Mainstream visualization methods –Enable high performance, e.g. real-time interactive mode, and high resolution of graphics. –Strong hardware display limitation. –Costly on performance/price for the display. Image-based Visualization –The original visualization methods before digital era. –Separation between the calculations on visualization and the result display. –Take advantage of recent advance in web technology, which enable platform independent display. –Image compression techniques have reached a mature stage.

IvI (Image-based Visualization Interface): our approach on Image-based Visualization Requirements: –Internet available and platform independence. –Configurable interface that allows easy replacement of various HPC graphic engines. –Multi-user on-line, i.e. scalability for sizable users. –Virtual reality.

System Architecture

Master-Slave Model for Services of Graphic Engines

Client-Server Model for the Display

The VTK Graphics Engine

The directory tree for the IvI.

IvI: Air Boat Design (1)

IvI: 3D Stereo Air Boat Design (2)

Conclusions A web-based image-based interface has developed for visualization. –The interface has achieved what we require. –VTK is used as the Graphic Engine. –Security has taken into account for internet. –Virtual Reality is provided by VTK in an interlaced manner, which requires special graphic cards. –The size of users allowed for the system in QoS yet required to test. The next step: – ubiquitous visualization through wireless network. –HPC issues on graphic engines.