Fakespace Systems Inc. today announced that it has delivered the latest generation FLEX visualization system to Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the New Library of Alexandria in Egypt. This walk-in virtual reality system will enable interactive work within three-dimensional computer-generated models and environments at the International School of Information Science (ISIS), a research center affiliated with the new Library, which is designed to recapture the spirit of the ancient center of learning.
ISIS is the first facility in Africa and the Middle East to provide an advanced visualization tool of this scale. Devoted to using the newest technology to preserve the past and to promote access to products of the human intellect, the facility will display 3D stereoscopic images generated from a state-of-the-art PC cluster, on the FLEX’s three 10-ft x 10-ft vertical walls and the floor. The FLEX system will provide researchers in the region with the infrastructure they need to cooperate and work closely with researchers from all over the world and paves the road for future collaboration. As part of a new R&D environment it is expected to become a strategic means to securing sustainable development and growth in Egypt and the region.
With virtual reality, or immersive visualization, researchers are able to experience simulations of natural or human-engineered phenomena in a way that provides new insights and understanding. Often eliminating the need for physical models, work within virtual environments has been shown to save time and resources in both commercial and scientific research. The FLEX is an advanced re-configurable visualization solution for those whose viewing, collaboration, and presentation requirements cannot be met within the confines of a single visualization technology. The system is ideal for many applications in fields as diverse as medicine, engineering, architecture, socio-economic analysis, seismic interpretation and well planning, biotechnology research, manufacturing and design, fluid dynamics, and chemistry. With plans to open the facility before the end of February 2006, the FLEX at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina is configured with t wo vertical walls and a floor to form the corner of a cube, while a third vertical wall moves at the press of a button to change the environment from an immersive room to an L-shaped theater type configuration enabling viewing by a large audience. Five workstations are linked together to form a powerful data processor and image generator. The four projectors used in the FLEX render 1400 x 1050 pixels each and have a very bright light output rated at 7200 ANSI lumens.
