Using Streaming and Parallelization Techniques for 3D Visualization in a High-Performance Computing and Networking Environment

Currently available massively parallel supercomputers provide sufficient performance to simulate multi-dimensional, multi-variable problems in high resolution. However, the visualization of the large amounts of result data cannot be handled by traditional methods, where postprocessing modules are usually coupled to the raw data source - either by files or by data flow. Due to significant bottlenecks of the storage and communication resources, efficient techniques for data extraction and preprocessing at the source have to be developed to get a balanced, scalable system and the feasibility of a "Virtual Laboratory" scenario, where the user interacts with a multi-modal, tele-immersive virtual reality environment. In this paper we describe an efficient, distributed system approach to support three-dimensional, interactive exploration of complex results of scientific computing. Our processing chain consists of the following networked instances: 1. Creation of geometric 3D objects, such as isosurfaces, orthogonal slicers or particle sets, which illustrate the behaviour of the raw data. Our efficient visualization approach allows to handle large result data sets of simulation frameworks. It is based on processing every result data part corresponding to the domain decomposition of the parallelized simulation at the location of computation, and then collecting and exporting the generated 3D primitives. This is supported by special postprocessing routines, which provide filtering and mapping functions. 2. Storage of the generated sequence of 3D files on a separate "3D Streaming Server", which provides - controlled via "Real Time Streaming Protocol" (RTSP) - play-out capabilities for continuous 3D media streams. 3. Presentation of such 3D scene sequences as animations in a virtual reality environment. The virtual objects are embedded in a WWW page by using an advanced 3D viewer plugin, and taking advantage of high-quality rendering, stereoscopic displays and interactive navigation and tracking devices.

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