Keynote address: Immersive exploration of large datasets

Scientists, engineers and physicians are now confronted with a fire hose of data. Immersive visualization environments provide these users with a novel way of interacting and reasoning with large datasets. They allow them to utilize the entirety of their visual bandwidth, effectively engulfing the user in the data and enabling collaborative interaction. We present a custom-built 5-wall Cave environment, called the Immersive Cabin (IC). It is driven by a GPU cluster for both computation and 3D stereo rendering. We also propose a conformal deformation rendering pipeline for the visualization of datasets on partially-immersive platforms. Combined with a range of interaction and navigation tools, our system can support numerous interactive applications of large datasets. Several demonstrations include architectural visualization, urban planning, medical visualization, simulation and rendering of physical phenomena, and entertainment. Current visualization displays, however, have not kept up with the explosive growth in data size and resolution, which is beginning to match the resolution of the visuals that surround us in daily life. To ameliorate this challenge, we have developed a life-like, realistic immersion into the petascale data to be explored, appropriately called The RealityDeck. It is a one-of-a kind pioneering G-pixel immersive and collaborative display system - a unique assembly of high-res display panels, GPU cluster, sensors, networking, computer vision, and human-computer interaction technologies.