Virtual Reality Alliance--Augmenting and Complementing NII Metacenter Activities

9418068 DeFanti这个Metacenter区域联盟将把三个互补的组织联系在一起：Metacenter、伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校（UIC）的软件技术研究中心（STRC）和芝加哥制造中心（CMC）。其组织原则是为大型公司和小型财团提供适用于制造产品设计和快速原型的虚拟现实高端测试平台。 该提案将在国家信息基础设施内创建和转让虚拟现实技术。 将与区域元中心合作伙伴和小企业一起开发用于远程虚拟原型及其超级计算支持的软件和高级人机界面技术。 与vBNS的拟议联系是这项建议的重要组成部分。 STRC已经证明了二十多年的历史，它可以将可视化技术应用于许多领域，例如，教育、制造和培训。 它提供的专业知识在SIGGRAPH和超级计算会议的CAVE虚拟现实剧院中达到了高潮。 CMC管理着最新的NIST区域制造中心之一，其目的是帮助中小型企业实现运营现代化并提高竞争力。 通过与STRC、CMC和NCSA的合作，该联盟有机会在芝加哥地区的HPCC技术部署领域发挥领导作用，并创建一个可供其他城市研究机构复制的范例。

9418068 DeFanti This Metacenter Regional Alliance will tie together three complementary organizations: the Metacenter, the Software Technologies Research Center (STRC) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and the Chicago Manufacturing Center (CMC). The organizing principle is the provision of a high-end testbed for virtual reality applied to manufacturing product design and rapid prototyping, to both large companies and consortia of small ones. The proposal will create and transfer the technology of virtual reality within the National Information Infrastructure. The software and advanced human interface technology for remote virtual prototyping and its supercomputing support will be developed with regional metacenter partners and small businesses. The proposed link to the vBNS is a vital part of this proposal. The STRC has demonstrated over a twenty year history that it can apply visualization technology to many areas, e.g., education, manufacturing, and training. It has provided the expertise that culminated in the CAVE virtual reality theater at the SIGGRAPH and Supercomputing conferences. CMC manages one of the newest NIST regional manufacturing Centers whose aim is to assist small and medium sized businesses modernize operations and improve competitiveness. Through its partnership with STRC, CMC, and NCSA this Alliance has the opportunity to provide leadership in areas of HPCC technology deployment to the Chicago region, and create a paradigm that can be replicated by other urban research institutions.