Imagine logging onto HokieSpa on a display that spans 24 monitors and over 30 million pixels. The Center for Human Computer Interaction in Virginia Tech's computer science department has created two such displays and has plans to build an even bigger computer layout.
Assistant Professor Christopher North heads the Gigapixel Lab and is assisted by undergraduates as well as Tech graduate students. The project's goal is to create a monitor system with as many pixels as possible, not simply a larger display area. Increasing the pixel size mean increasing the amount of information displayed, maximizing the space provided.
?What will life be like when all architectural surfaces will be on one display, when maps can incorporate all of the terrain,? North said.
The lab currently holds two displays. One is a LCD-based display that incorporates 24 reconfigurable monitors. The system connects together standard Dell computers and uses 12 Linux servers to power the setup. In entirety the LCD diplay cost over $40,000.
?Other schools and institutions have built power wall displays, but what makes this one unique in that ours is reconfigurable and can be curved around the user,? North said.
The second setup uses projection screens to achieve similar graphical capabilities but the projection displays are run by one Windows server and five graphics cards. The rear projection screen system incorporates 18 monitors and cost $150,000.
?We have had the equipment for about a year and will soon be constructing a 50-touch screen display,? North said.
Building such a system demands new programs and interactive hardware. The lab is working on specific mice that allow users to interface quickly across all screens. North used a gyro mouse as well as a 3D system to interact with data on the desktop. 3D tracking uses an array of overhead cameras and special gloves that pinpoint the cursor on the screen and move it accordingly to your movements.
?The Vicon is like Tom Cruise in 'Minority Report' but soon we will be able to use a laser pointer to interact with the vision based system,? North said.
Andrew Sabri, a senior computer science major, works on the system's code to create more opportunities for the potential everyday user. The Gigapixel Lab was available to Sabri as senior-level undergraduate research course.
?There aren't many programs written for this many screens. An everyday person would use it for maps or games,? Sabri said.
Sabri has re-configured an opened code version of Warcraft (Stratagus) to work on the expanded display network. When Stratagus ran on the rear projection screens they were able to incorporate the entire game map. Sabri has also gotten a version of Quake to run on the 24-monitor display.
The Gigapixel Lab has had some collaboration with the Tech bioinformatics department and Bill Carstensen in the geography department. North is currently looking at the computer displays for data visualization and in conjunction with the geography department has loaded satellite imagery and even real estate data onto the computers.
The project has received funding from the National Science Foundation as well as the university and the next step will be to assemble the 50-touch screen system, which costs $100,000.
