GLASGOW, SCOTLAND -- SGI (NYSE: SGI) is showcasing advances in collaborative visualization technology and Visual Area Networking within the scientific, academic, and oil and gas arenas during the SGI Visualization Summit at the Glasgow Science Centre, March 6-8, 2002. Total Fina Elf, de pinxi, the British Museum, The European Space Agency, University of Manchester and Shell U.K. are among the key customers at the event discussing their innovative use of SGI® visualization technology. The summit brings together industry leaders who are using the latest collaborative visualization technology to move boundaries within their fields of expertise. Techniques being demonstrated include remote visualization as a surgeon's tool in the operating theater, seismic analysis using immersive and resource-sharing technologies, and virtual reality-based exploration of time and space. Dr. Eng Lim Goh, chief technology officer for SGI, will demonstrate the concept of Visual Area Networking -- introduced by the company in January -- which enables universal access to advanced visualization using any computing device over standard networks. It allows scientists and engineers to store and process data in one place; this data can then be accessed and manipulated by people using any client device, either by themselves or collaboratively across existing networks, irrelevant of location. It literally puts high-performance computer power in the hands of surgeons, scientists, engineers and creative professionals, no matter where they are located in the world. ``The eye is the highest bandwidth input system for the brain,'' said Goh. ``If raw data can be processed into visual graphics faster, then made more readily available anywhere and on any device, we would have increased the power of comprehension and insight via immediate universal access.'' ``SGI solutions for science-based industries, research, heritage and education enable our customers to shorten their development time and improve their ability to make decisions,'' said Steve Coggins, senior vice president, EMEA at SGI. ``Whether you're assessing medical images to diagnose ailments, discovering new drugs or chemicals, finding new oil and gas reservoirs, studying the weather or the environment, conducting research in universities and national labs, or educating the public through science centers, museums and planetariums, SGI offers you a complete set of tools and professional services.'' One of the organizations presenting at the summit is the American Museum of Natural History, New York. There, scientists, imagery analysts, programmers, graphic designers and educators at the Rose Center for Earth and Space's Hayden Planetarium, used SGI technology to build a visual database of the 100,000 observed stars, pulsars and nebulae. The planetarium's spectacular digital dome Space Theatre initially used a 28-processor Silicon Graphics® Onyx2® InfiniteReality2(TM) system with seven graphics pipes to drive SEOF's Prodas projection displays and create a seamless visualization of space on the dome. The planetarium employed an Onyx2 system to generate stars of statistically correct appearance, enabling visitors to literally fly through a three-dimensional visualization of the Milky Way. NASA also provided support for this project. The programs now run off a set of DDRs, freeing up the SGI systems for more complex research and development projects at the planetarium. ``SGI is playing an increasingly larger role in helping science centers, planetariums and museums change the standard of the information they present and how they present it. The company's technology is allowing people to explore the universe, fly through a strand of DNA, stroll into a virtual model of an Egyptian tomb and examine minute details of priceless works of art, all interactively,'' Coggins added. ``The Virtual Science Theatre at the Glasgow Science Centre is a prime example of this. Launching to the public later this month, it will be the U.K.'s most powerful publicly available, immersive 3D visualization environment and will enable visitors to interact with the latest scientific discoveries.''