Education / TrainingKobe University, Education Center on Computational Science and EngineeringView the photos

Simulated ion and electron flows from the ion engine that serves as the propulsion system of an asteroid probe, such as Hayabusa.
(This image was displayed in 2D for photoshooting, but the actual image is in 3D.)

Kobe University:Director of Education Center on Computational Science and Engineering / Prof. Dr. Nobuyuki Kaya

If huge amounts of research data are visualized as 3D images and researchers can "enter" those virtual reality spaces, they will discover things that they couldn't notice before. To make such research activities possible, the Education Center addresses the visualization of large-scale data.

The City of Kobe promotes the "Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster" on Port Island. And the Integrated Research Center of Kobe University was founded on this artificial island. In 2014, the Education Center on Computational Science and Engineering was established within the Integrated Research Center to focus on visualizing big data in various fields and deepening research activities.
In the Education Center, Panasonic projectors display sharp, clear 3D data images to support research activities.

The Education Center on Computational Science and Engineering has been addressing the visualization of large-scale data for some time, and the researchers conduct research on a multi-modal visualization technology in the facility called "π-CAVE" for the purpose of searching and understanding characteristic phenomena. The π-CAVE is an advanced facility for visualizing virtual reality, but only a few people can enter this facility. To allow more researchers to hold discussions while watching visualized 3D data under the same conditions, a 3D video system configured with two Panasonic projectors was newly installed in the Center.

The lecture room lets researchers watch visualized 3D data and hold discussions

The Integrated Research Center has a 350-person-capacity convention hall equipped with a 250-inch screen for 3D image projection. The hall is used for academic meetings and the like, but it is too large for conducting everyday research activities. Thus, a new 3D video system was recently installed in a lecture room that can accommodate about 50 researchers. To configure this system, Panasonic's PT-DZ870W 1-Chip DLP™ Projector was selected. Two PT-DZ870W projectors were installed for projecting images on a screen measuring approximately 7.8 m in width and 3 m in height. The dynamic, super-wide 3D images projected clearly by these projectors fill the entire field of vision, and keep the researchers in the room glued to the displayed images.

A maximum of 50 researchers can gather and hold discussions.

The super-wide screen measures approx. 7.8 min width and 3 m in height.

The two PT-DZ870W projectors blend in with the ceiling, thus causing no oppressing feelings.

Audio-video control rack

Interactive capability allows data to be viewed from different perspectives

Computational science and engineering is a field of study in which computers are used to analyze present states based on huge amounts of data and also for predicting future conditions. Numerical simulations are performed for various purposes, such as verifying natural disasters, optimizing industrial processes, and analyzing meteorological phenomena and atomic-level behavior.

The newly installed system is equipped with an interactive function similar to the one offered by the advanced π-CAVE 3D visualization facility. The remote controller enables forward and backward movements of the displayed image as well as changes to the viewpoint in the vertical and horizontal directions. By enabling the observation of data from various positions, the system deepens the researchers' understanding and helps them to make new discoveries.

The researcher wears 3D glasses and
operates a remote controller.

Professor Kaya first saw the Panasonic PT-DZ21K 3-Chip DLP™ Projector in the Supercomputing Conference. The high-quality images displayed by the PT-DZ21K were impressive and led to the adoption of the PT-DZ870 1-Chip DLP™ Projector, which features a 3D projection capability and advanced functions found in Panasonic's flagship 3-Chip DLP™ models. Visualizing large-scale data has only just begun.
In the future, he plans to link the system to the much-talked-about supercomputer, "K computer," located in the building adjacent to the Integrated Research Center of Kobe University. The new video system is expected to provide useful functions for research in a variety of fields regardless of genre, such as outer space, biomolecules and disaster prevention.

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