Visualization System Powered By Sgi Onyx 3400 Provides U.S. Army With Realistic, Immersive Training Environment

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, Feb 11, 2002

System Helps Troops Prepare for Combat in Hostile Foreign Territory

The U.S. Army is using a visualization system powered by an SGI[R] Onyx[R] 3400 high-performance graphics system to create highly realistic training simulations that will help prepare troops for effective decision-making in foreign conflict zones.

The state-of-the-art system from Mechdyne Corporation and SGI (NYSE: SGI) is located at the Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), Marina del Rey, Calif., a partnership between the University of Southern California and the Army. It features a wraparound curved screen with a 150-degree horizontal field of view and surround sound.

Drawing on the graphics power of an SGI Onyx 3400 visualization supercomputer with four InfiniteReality3 graphics pipes, the Mechdyne system allows users to feel completely absorbed in the virtual environment.

The system incorporates digital CRT projectors offering optimal fidelity and the highest resolution images currently available. InfiniteReality3 is the latest version of SGI's world-leading graphics subsystem and is the high-performance graphics pipeline for the SGI Onyx 3400, providing the power and real-time visualization capability to concurrently process imagery, video, 3D terrain and geospatial data.

"SGI's advanced graphics technology is helping the institute develop realistic simulation and virtual reality tools to benefit Army training," said James Korris, creative director, ICT. "The Mechdyne system, combined with SGI's state-of-the-art computer graphics hardware, offers the optimal immersion needed to create a totally realistic training environment."

"This system will set the standard for curved-screen, wraparound immersion and image quality," said Kurt Hoffmeister, vice president of engineering, Mechdyne. "We are very pleased with the results and our team's ability to meet ICT's demanding requirements."

The Army funded the development of ICT in 1999 in an effort to leverage the entertainment industry's creative and storytelling expertise with the computer science community's abilities in networking, artificial intelligence and virtual reality technology.