| • | What are the primary benefits of using an SGI® Reality CenterTM facility? |
| • | How many SGI immersive visualization facilities are in use around the world today? |
| • | Will SGI help me design, install, and support my Reality Center facility? |
| • | What type of Reality Center display works best? |
| • | Does an SGI Reality Center facility always require room construction or facility modification? |
| • | Do I need to develop custom applications? |
| • | Are there commercial applications that are ready to run in multipipe and multichannel environments? |
| • | Can I use my in-house application using multiple
graphics pipes? |
| Q. | What are the primary benefits of using a SGI® Reality CenterTM facility? |
| A. | The great benefit is the ability to enable multidisciplinary
work teams to deal easily and efficiently with complex data
sets. When bringing multidisciplinary teams together, visualization
provides a common language for all participants, regardless
of their background, training, or experience. The differences
become strengths to the team rather than creating communication
liabilities. Another major benefit is the ability to visualize and interact with models and processes without the attendant danger, impracticality, or significantly greater expense that would be encountered in the same environment if it were physical. That means saving money and time, as well as enhancing creativity in product prototyping, hazardous task training, molecular modeling, medical education, entertainment content creation, and a range of other mission-critical tasks. SGI Reality Center adds
tremendous and unique value to virtually any organization
where it's vital to visualize spatial relationships and
analyze, design, engineer, and understand such relationships.
Any project in which 3D information (whether on a macro,
micro, or one-to-one scale) must be navigated or closely
examined will benefit from SGI Reality Center technology.
|
| Q. | How many SGI immersive visualization facilities are in use around the world today? |
| A. | There are more than 550 SGI Reality Center facilities in
use today. Of these, more than 330 are front- or rear-projected
wall facilities, more than 80 are highly immersive rooms comprising
three to six walls, and more than 130 are desks. |
| Q. | Will SGI help me design, install, and support my Reality Center facility? |
| A. | Yes! In addition to the expert sales and engineering resources
in our sales organization, SGI has a Professional
Services organization that can deliver any support you
need, from project planning to component selection, installation,
operations, and even staff training for your employees. SGI
can deliver expertise, project management, and risk mitigation.
By putting the experience and resources of the world's most
respected computer and graphics systems company behind your
project, you will achieve world-class results and minimize
the project's financial risks and scheduling problems. |
| Q. | What type of Reality Center display works best? |
| A. | The selection of your Reality Center environment is an
important decision that is dependent upon your goals for the
facility. Who will use it? For what functions will the environment
be used? How many people will be working in the facility at
one time? What are your budget and space considerations? These
are a few of the questions that need to be answered. To properly
consider the type of environment that is right for your organization
and use, contact SGI and we'll help you make the right decision.
|
| Q. | Does an SGI Reality Center facility always require room construction or facility modification? |
| A. | No. While many facilities are custom-built or involve modifications
to existing rooms or buildings, the Reality Center desks and
some off-the-shelf (OTS) Reality Center wall displays do not
require modification of facilities. Review your proposed location,
power availability, access, and expected use with your SGI
sales or Professional Services team to determine which solution
is right for your specific need. |
| Q. | Do I need to develop custom applications? |
| A. | No. Because of the unique capabilities of SGI® Onyx®
family systems, existing IRIX® applications run on our flat
or curved display systems with single-pipe, multichannel projection.
Many standard applications run on multipipe, multichannel
projection displays with little or no modification. And our
OpenGL MultipipeTM software enables
single-pipe applications to scale seamlessly in a multipipe
environment. SGI is the only computer systems company working
closely with a wide range of international software partners
to offer our customers the broadest selection of commercial
SGI Reality Center solutions. |
| Q. | Are there commercial applications that are ready to run in multipipe and multichannel environments? |
| A. | Yes. Many key commercial applications in many industries
support and encourage the use of SGI Onyx scalability. SGI
works closely with our software solution providers to assist
them in developing these capabilities for our mutual customers.
|
| Q. | Can I use my in-house application using multiple graphics pipes? |
| A. | SGI provides several ways of harnessing the power of our
scalable systems. Applications that have been written using
OpenGL PerformerTM
or OpenGL
OptimizerTM will be ready to take
advantage of the scalable SGI Onyx family systems in your
facility. OpenGL
MultipipeTM provides a layer by
which single-pipe applications can run transparently in multipipe
configurations. Both X and OpenGL® applications are supported.
The OpenGL
MultipipeTM Software Development Kit
provides developers with the ability to manage all available
graphics resources for efficient use. It also allows a multiprocessor,
multipipe application to be developed and tested on a single-pipe
desktop machine and executed on the target machine without
recompilation. Custom application development or programmer
training is also available from SGI. |