Multimedia supercomputing: the use of supercomputers to drive high-performance multimedia systems and virtual environments

Summary form only given, as follows. The author describes a project underway at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to merge multimedia capability with large-scale parallel supercomputing. He describes the IBM SP parallel system currently installed at ANL and the project to extend its capability with ATM networks and video processor hardware/software, in order to provide scientific computing users with state-of-the-art multimedia capability. We are developing ways that video and audio can be used to augment traditional scientific visualization, including ideas for multimedia I/O libraries that will enable existing programs to directly produce video output for visualization and/or debugging. The author also describes work to develop a collaborative virtual environment based upon linking the CAVE virtual reality environment, via high-performance networking, to the IBM SP and connecting this system to similar facilities at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at UIC and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at UIC. These linked virtual environments will be used for collaborative scientific visualization and experiments in the development of high-end collaborative tools