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I was sent this article by a colleague of mine about the interesting relationship between Cloud Computing & Exascale Computing.  I keep hearing more about Exascale, in particular with the “big vis” and “big data” problems associated, and this article is a short but interesting viewpoint on one common mantra: Move to the Cloud.

Confused about Cloud Computing?

Join the club.

A big factor behind the confusion is the many self-serving definitions of ‘Cloud Computing’ being used by the various hardware, software and service vendors.

As we’ve been discussing the topic of ‘Exascale’ with many different companies, I have heard people comment that “cloud computing will be a key factor in achieving exascale.”

This is very interesting – and also very misleading. While cloud computing may very well be a factor in supporting an exascale-level ecosystem, it will not be a factor in achieving exaFLOPS levels of computation.

The market hype, over simplification, and the many (usually vendor-driven) definitions of cloud computing make it difficult for companies looking to make an investment in cloud computing technology.

Even the analyst firms align the market forecasts based on different ways of looking at the cloud computing infrastructure and revenue-generating components and services. This is nothing new for the analyst firms, however, the challenge in intelligently using these market forecasts is that they are being tossed around (by vendors and users) without adequate differentiation.

No matter how you slice it, and for the most part, no matter how you define it, cloud computing holds tremendous promise. It will likely be a significant part of the exascale world, but not a factor in achieving exaFLOPS computation. The analyst firms are aligned in predicting strong growth of sales and services in this colorful and somewhat controversial market segment.

As an example, these numbers are taken from recent publicly stated forecasts. Rest assured, you can expect these to change at least every six months moving forward:

Is there a lesson in here for marketers? Sure.

Whether talking about exascale, cloud computing, grid computing, or anything else – be transparent in your definitions and understand the subtle (or not so subtle) differences in the other definitions being used so you can talk intelligently and factually to your audiences – without trying to sell them or convert them. Don’t get lost in the hype. This is true for exascale – and it’s true for Cloud Computing.

Submitted by:
Mike Bernhardt
The Exascale Report
http://theexascalereport.com

Science analyst, exascale

Now this is just too cool to pass up.  The Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo has a new display from Mitsubishi Electric called “Geo-Cosmos” that combines 10,362 OLED display panels into a giant live-updating sphere 6-meters across.

The globe was installed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the museum, as a result of Executive Director Mamoru Mohri “wanting to share with people the sight of our beautiful Earth as seen from space.” The display features constantly updated satellite images of the earth. There are also interactive “Geo-Scope” touch-screen panels which allow visitors to browse images and data collected from all over the world. Something particularly interesting was a simulation showing the point of origin and eventual dispersion of the March 11 tsunami following the great earthquake.

via Geo-Cosmos: Gigantic Globe OLED Display [Video].

Hardware gis, map, mitsubishi, oled

SolidSmack brings us news that PTC Creo 1.0 has finally hit the streets, and coinciding with the release is the announcement from Luxion that KeyShot 2 is ready to go from day 1.

“We are excited to offer the first visualization solution for Creo”, says Dr. Henrik Wann Jensen, Chief Scientist and co-founder of Luxion. “This demonstrates a strong commitment to our joint customer base. Creo customers immediately have the ability to use the best rendering solution in conjunction with the world’s most advanced modeling solution.”

High-end rendering in CAD Modeling is frequently forgotten in the pursuit of easy & fast.  It’s becoming more important, and lots more obtainable thanks to offerings from companies like Bunkspeed and Luxion.  Having it integrated so tightly on Release Day is a big win for PTC and Luxion.

Read more…

Graphics keyshot, luxion, ptc, software

Vuzix is back with an impressive new offering for Augmented Reality fans, the STAR1200 which packs a HD camera, 6-dof head-tracker, control logic, connectivity, and more all into 1 amazing (and pricey) pair of glasses.

A high-speed 1080p high definition camera with a dedicated USB connection enables exceptional performance for marker or object recognition. The camera, seen by the computer as a standard webcam, allows for easy adaptation and application support without proprietary software.

A miniature 6-DOF (Degree of Freedom) head tracker with compass plugs directly into the STAR 1200 display module providing cooked or raw tracker data through the STAR system’s control interface. A VGA Control Box interfaces with Windows based netbook, laptop or desktop computers or lithium ion rechargeable Wrap PowerPak+ connects to the iPhone/iPad family of mobile devices, enabling tracker support.

They aren’t cheap, running $5000 with a $2000 commitment up front, but they look like they’re state of the art in Augmented Reality headwear.

Although, one has to ask how long AR Glasses will remain relevant with the booming smartphone AR market.

via Vuzix STAR 1200 Augmented Reality System.

Hardware augmented reality, glasses, vuzix

• Lumiere/Meteor Files for Bankruptcy, Again -
• Kinect Telepresence System from UNC Chapel Hill
• OnLive: The iPad is the Future of Console Gaming
• NASA Catches Massive Solar Flare
• AMD Firepro 7900 vs Quadro 4000
• Autodesk releases 123D Beta Modeling Tool
• Infographic of the Week – History of the Electric Car

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Graphics, Hardware, Podcast, Science feature, Podcast

Last week, the video game industry met in the E3 Annual Expo, and we’re all big fans of games here, so, during the next two weeks, we will dedicate the Daily Viz from Visual Loop to this amazing world. And today, a lot of facts, stats and numbers about the industry! Online Education, ESRB and 10Creative compiled most of these, while Renters Insurance shows us the evolution of video game genres, and – again – Online Education takes us in time too, with its video game timeline, going back to 1967.

Read more…

Graphics, Science design, environment, infographic, infoviz, travel, video games, Visual Loop, visualizations

David Stripinis has a new blog post up entitled “Fixing it in Post” that is part history of the VFX industry, part “How did things get so bad for VFX artists”, and a personal angle on how to fix things.

Magazines like Time and Newsweek noticed, and touted ‘Computer Artist’ as one of the top ten careers young people could go into.   Studios and governments also noticed.  Studios, seeing the rapid rise in the costs to produce films with VFX audiences were ‘demanding’, looked for any way to lower those costs.  Politicians, always eager to claim they created high paying jobs for their constituencies, began offering tax incentives for doing VFX in their states, provinces or countries.

And so the race to the bottom was on.

Facilities began to go under.  Warner Digital.  Dream Quest ( which had been purchased by Disney and renamed The Secret Lab ).  BOSS Film.   Large facilities advantage over the midsize facilities was being able to offer VFX never seen before.  But the pressure was on from government subsidized overseas facilities like Weta Digital and the London houses like Double Negative, Framestore and The Moving Picture Company who could offer the same groundbreaking VFX at a lower cost due to that wonderful government lobbied for by the studios.  ( For full disclosure, I currently work for Double Negative in London ).

He makes some interesting observations towards the end, I like his discussion of how Europe’s VFX department is currently just beginning what hit here in the US a few years back.   I’m not so sure if a VFX union belongs under the Teamsters, but it seems some type of organization is needed.

via davidstripinis.com – Blog – Fixing it in Post.

Graphics union, vfx

3Di has a new Autostereoscopic display that is also a Touchscreen, and calibrated for 3D effects at (convenient) arm’s length.  Meant for kiosk uses, it incorporates a few new patents from 3Di into a new 1080p display.

“The screen can be perfectly used and incorporated into vending machines, kiosks and infotainment systems”, said Stephan Otte, Head of Hardware Development in 3D International Europe. “We are very pleased to offer one of the first glasses-free 3D multi-touch display products in the market at an affordable price.”

You can get the product brochure for it online.

3Di’s New Autostereoscopic Touchscreen Display.

Hardware 3di, autostereoscopic, television, touchscreen

Autodesk has released a new low-end modeling software called “Autodesk 123D” that looks perfectly targeted at folks interested in stereolithography machines and “Makerbots”.   Resembling Google’s Sketchup software, it combines some of Autodesk’s own “secret sauce” in the form of assemblies and constraints that could make it a great tool for folks interested in the Home Fabrication space.

The software and a slew of free content is available for download, and it exports STL models ready for fabrication.

Autodesk 123D – Free 3D Modeling Software, 3D Models, DIY Projects, Personal Fabrication Tools.

Graphics autodesk, software

So, “Virtual Reality” may not be quite the right term for this for it’s an impressive college design project.  Combining a pico projector with a head-tracking camera, they’re able to use the user’s head as an input device and display computer output on the screen in front of them, and they managed to hook it up to some mainstream apps like flight simulations and military FPS sims.

In this video, our group of three ECE students (two software engineers and one power systems engineer) made a project that allows for a more immersive gameplay environment. Your head, tracked via the webcam using face-tracking software, can be used as a control input to various computer games which allows for different gameplay experiences. The motorized projector moves along with your head to give you a view angle at all times.

via YouTube – University of Texas ECE Senior Design Open House Competition Playing Arma 2.
Check out the demonstration videos.

Hardware projector, virtual reality