VizWorld.com

We’ve talked about the impressive “Allosphere” before, the three story aluminum sphere with lots of high definition 3D projections, 128 channels of audio, and more.  A new press release at Nanotechnology Now gets into the details of some of the projects using the new tech, including a great simulation of the human body build from a combination of high-resolution scans and simulations.

We are in the process of building our fluid dynamics simulation to get the precise blood flow down the arteries and veins. Then we will get the nano particle geometries from our materials scientists and build a particle simulator so they will be able to run various tests virtually,” said Kuchera-Morin.

via Nanotechnology Now – Press Release: “The AlloSphere Offers an Interactive Experience of Nano-sized Worlds: New research opportunities emerge from instrument that immerses reserachers in multi-dimensional information”.

Science allosphere, interactive, visualization

At the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit San Francisco 2011, JoAnn Kuchera-Morin gave a nice 20-ish minute presentation on the AlloSphere.  We’ve discussed the Allosphere before, but she gives a great presentation on some of the scientific benefits of seeing your data in such a huge & immersive setting.

The AlloSphere, a 30-foot diameter sphere built inside a 3-story near-to-anechoic (echo free) cube, allows for synthesis, manipulation, exploration and analysis of large-scale data sets in an environment that can simulate virtually real sensorial perception. It is a physical place designed to facilitate creativity and incubate ideas via collaboration. JoAnn takes us on a data trip through the brain and shows how they detect previously unseen patterns that could lead to new discoveries. Ever wonder what your data set might look like in 3D and sound like with 128 channels of audio?

If you want to see the visit, hit the link below (they’ve disabled embed’ing).

via Data Visualization as You’ve Never Imagined [video] | eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit Videos.

Hardware, Science allosphere, conference

Build a three-story aluminum sphere with a catwalk through the middle, slap on six hi-def 3D-capable projectors, and pipe in live video, renderings, and audio, and what do you get?  If you’re at UC Santa Barbara, you’ve just built the AlloSphere.

Project director JoAnn Kuchera-Morin is as happy with the aesthetic results as she is with the science. Trained as a composer, she moved into digital geekery in the 1980s while working with computer-generated music. “We create some of the most exquisite artistic installations that are also some of the most precise scientific simulations in the world,” she says.

via Sensory Overloader: 3-D Tower Lets Researchers Climb Inside Their Data | Magazine.

Science allosphere

A TED talk has emerged, including a live demo of “The AlloSphere”, an ambitious 3D Virtual Environment space at the California NanoSystems Institute, UC Santa Barbara.

The AlloSphere space consists of a 3-story cube that is treated with extensive sound absorption material making it one of the largest anechoic chambers in the world. Standing inside this chamber are two 5-meter-radius hemispheres constructed of perforated aluminum that are designed to be optically opaque and acoustically transparent.

Video after the break.

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Hardware allosphere