A Tool for Preparing Trans-National Access to High Level Visualisation Facilities

VISIONAIR is a European infrastructure that grants specific researchers access to high-level visualisation facilities and resources. Based on the quality of the proposals of European researchers and the way in which proposals match with VISIONAIR requirements, a selection of proposals is elaborated in one of the VISIONAIR facilities. One of the requirements is that a laboratory cannot host a project that originated in the same country; consequently,  the physical access to the facilities of one of the VISIONAIR partners is called a Trans-National Access (TNA). A TNA can only be efficient and effective for both parties if the visit is preceded by adequate preparation. Aligning requirements and resources is one of the most essential activities here. However, the effectiveness and efficiency of this preparatory process are not obvious, as the stakeholders are geographically separated and have their own background and interests. Therefore, supporting the underlying deliberations can yield huge benefits in preparing TNA’s. The preparation of TNA's in VISIONAIR is, in many ways, similar to the construction of so-called Synthetic Environments (SE’s) that are used in product development.  In such environments, imaginary worlds, objects, characters and behaviour can be experienced through visualisation and simulation. Together these represent possible futures by bringing together real and virtual entities. This publication describes the ability to prepare for TNA’s by applying the framework, working methods and rationale that is habitually employed in developing Synthetic Environments for a specific project-oriented purpose. The roles of the different stakeholders are described, as well as the ways in which they interact in order to give the TNA the highest possible added value.