INDUSTRY

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and WEST SUSSEX, United Kingdom -- Trimension Systems, a division of SEOS, and SGI (NYSE: SGI) have just completed installation of an SGI(R) Reality Center(TM) facility in the Executive Briefing Center at the Houston, Texas, headquarters of Landmark Graphics Corporation. The new immersive visualization system, powered by a 16-processor SGI(R) Onyx(R) 3400 graphics supercomputer with three InfiniteReality3(TM) subsystems, is the first-ever front-projected installation using Digital Light Processing(TM) (DLP) projectors on a curved screen with active stereo -- not only in the energy industry, but at any commercial site internationally. Such configurations are much more typical on flat rather than cylindrical screens, which require specialist technical solutions for such problems as blending of image edges. Equipped with the latest in Trimension's DLP projection technology and incorporating SEOS's Mercator UX, the Landmark facility displays complex data sets in active stereo, allowing users to enter a virtual world, immersing themselves in their data, including seismic analysis data sets. Mercator UX, the world-leading UXGA distortion correction system, provides image-distortion correction to allow LCD and DLP projectors, among others, to be used in curved-screen applications. Landmark Graphics Corporation, a wholly owned business unit of Halliburton, will utilize the 12-foot curved-screen environment to demonstrate its consulting services, which optimize virtual environments for the exploration of data in ways not possible in the physical world. "Landmark is excited to be partnering with SGI and Trimension in our Houston Executive Briefing Center. This agreement reflects the three companies' desire to see our customers continue to benefit from our world-leading visualization technologies," said John Sherman, executive vice president, Marketing and Systems, Landmark Graphics Corporation. Ian Dyer, Trimension's sales manager for visualization, stated, "We are delighted to have had such a pivotal role in this, the world's premier curved-screen DLP active-stereo installation. We anticipate that this system, utilizing our own world-leading technologies, will assist Landmark's focus to deliver groundbreaking IT solutions for tomorrow's leaders in exploration and production." "SGI is proud to be associated with Landmark and Trimension in this important installation," added SGI's Bill Bartling, director of Global Energy Solutions. "It will serve as a model to the industry of the many applications for immersive visualization centers, from exploration and production processes through to collaborative decision making by geographically dispersed teams, viewing and manipulating the same data in real time." Project management, including successful installation ahead of schedule under tight deadlines, was handled by SGI Professional Services, which specializes in providing industry-specific consulting, expert technology services and ongoing system support. SGI Reality Center facilities help users arrive at better decisions in less time, providing enormous cost savings while enhancing productivity. They are widely relied upon for real-time, highly interactive working sessions for: -- Design review and engineering -- Complex data analysis -- Critical and/or hazardous training -- Sales and marketing -- Scientific research, education and analysis -- Decision support -- Command and control operations