Advanced Computing, Mathematics and Data
Research Highlights
September 2008
Dedicated Optical Networks Transforming Computational Science and Collaboration
Second Frontiers in Computational & Information Sciences Lecture features Larry Smarr
Collaborative visualization of large-scale datasets across geographically distributed sites is becoming increasingly important for many science domains ranging from biology to the subsurface. Not only does it enhance our understanding of these systems, but also enables near-real-time scientific data acquisition and exploration across distant locations. While such a collaborative environment is feasible with advanced optical networks and resource sharing, many technical challenges remain, according to Dr. Larry Smarr, the invited speaker of PNNL's "Frontiers in Computational & Information Sciences Lecture Series" held August 25. The lecture series features invited speakers from industry and government to discuss innovations and advancements in the computer sciences. Watch his presentation.
"During the last few years, a radical restructuring of global optical networks supporting e-Science projects has caused a paradigm shift in computational science and collaboration technologies," says Smarr, a professor in UCSD's Department of Computer Science and Engineering. "From a scalable tiled display wall in a researcher's campus laboratory, one can experience global telepresence, augmented by minimized latency to remote global data repositories, scientific instruments, and computational resources." Smarr described how this user configurable "OptIPuter" global platform opens new frontiers in many disciplines of science, such as interactive environmental observatories, climate change simulations, brain imaging, and marine microbial metagenomics, as well as in collaborative work environments, digital cinema, and visual cultural analytics.
