With more than 1 petabyte of data to work with, NCAR’s Scientific Computing Division chooses Barco stereoscopic high resolution projection to make spatial relationships apparent to scientists

3D visualization proves to be a vital tool to see and understand what is happening in all that complexity. Supercomputers drive a tiled passive stereo 3D projection system comprising pairs of dual-stacked BARCO SIM6 LCD projectors that illuminate the 24 x 9-foot (8-by-3.5-meter) virtual reality projection screen. The resulting visual experience is such that images appear to literally jump off the screen. Scientists can distinguish features in their data that they never knew were there as spatial relationships become more readily apparent.

“We explored a number of different passive stereo projection technologies, and it was obvious that Barco's Sim6 LCD projectors were the best suited for our needs, scoring very high with regard to light efficiency and stereo separation capabilities," states John Clyne, the lead engineer for NCAR's newly constructed visualization lab. “The internally polarized projectors clearly minimized the extensive light loss that we've seen with other solutions. Even with very high light output off-axis viewing is quite good, due primarily to the match between the projection screen and the Barco eyewear, which are integral parts of the display system."

What looks like a poltergeist jumping off the screen in SCD's Vislab is actually an extremely realistic, three-dimensional simulation of the jet stream. Photo: Carlye Calvin - UCAR

“As the SCD Vislab can comfortably seat about 35 people in a boardroom style and a few more in a theater-style configuration,” says Andrew Joel, BARCO V&AR Market Development Manager, “the design takes special care to provide wide horizontal and vertical viewing angles, for optimal large-format stereoscopic projection viewing by a full audience.”

Since its conception in early 2002, the Vislab has been in constant evolution until present,and has been used by many researchers since. Thanks to its high-end stereoscopic group viewing capabilities, the Vislab offers an unprecedented window into NCAR science. The lab is also a node on the AccessGrid, an ensemble of network and computing resources designed to foster geographically distributed scientific research, enabling NCAR and university researchers to interact simultaneously in real time with groups scattered around the world.

A large screen at each location displays windows for each of the participating sites. This enables attendees to see, hear, and speak to each other. Photo: Carlye Calvin - UCAR

About Barco
Barco, an international company headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, is active in three key areas of imaging technology. Barco designs and develops solutions for large screen visualization, display solutions for life-critical applications, and systems for visual inspection. Barco has a network of subsidiaries, distributors and agents in almost 100 countries. Barco is quoted on Brussels/Euronext and is a BEL 20 and a Next 150 company.

About NCAR
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research under primary sponsorship by the National Science Foundation. Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

NCAR homepage: http://www.ncar.ucar.edu
UCAR homepage: http://www.ucar.edu
SCD: http://www.scd.ucar.edu
VETS: http://www.vets.ucar.edu

For more information, please contact

Els Van Loocke
Marketing Communications Manager
Barco Presentation&Simulation

Telephone +32 56 368667
contact.bps@barco.com

Ken Hunter
Director of Sales V&AR


Telephone +1-937-372-7579
ken.hunter@barco.com