MAixCAVE – An immersive VR system for collaborative data analysis

• Subject Area: Computer Science
• Term: Funded in 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 533300018

Since 2004, the IT Center of RWTH Aachen University has been operating high quality, projection-based virtual reality (VR) systems (so-called CAVEs) as a tool in research and teaching. We have always supported the institutes and chairs of the university not only in terms of infrastructure, but also methodically in the use of visualization and VR technology. The second and current "AixCAVE" - Aachen Immersive eXperience CAVE - installed in 2012, is still one of the largest and highest quality CAVE systems in scientific use. Against the background of increasingly complex simulations, which are conducted on the HPC systems installed in Aachen and at the Forschungszentrum Jülich, an exploratory, immersive visualization in high resolution has become increasingly important, especially for the field of Computational Science & Engineering. With the foundation of the JARA Center for Simulation and Data Science, as well as with the establishment of the RWTH IT Center and the University Computing Center of TU Darmstadt as "National High-Performance Computing Center for Computational Engineering Sciences" (NHR4CES), immersive visualization has gained even more importance. However, the AixCAVE is also a central tool in other areas, such as production technology, psychology, neuroscience, architecture and, last but not least, basic VR research. With the end of the service life of the projectors installed in the AixCAVE, and a graphics cluster and tracking system that are no longer state-of-the-art, it is now necessary to replace these components of the overall system, while the mechanical structure of the existing system should continue to be used. Beyond a mere replacement of the components, an immersive CAVE system "MAixCAVE" - Multi-User AixCAVE - is to be realized with new possibilities for multi-user interaction. Via an installation of the latest generation of laser projectors, which provide an egocentric, stereoscopic projection for up to three people at the same time, a collaborative immersive data analysis "without compromises" is made possible - a wish that is expressed again and again by many users of the currently installed system and that has not been technically feasible up to now. In addition, the MAixCAVE is to be integrated as the core of a holistic concept for collaboration, which offers possibilities for a joint presentation, data analysis, planning of workflows or development of virtual prototypes in groups directly outside of the CAVE system. With a seamless switch from reality to virtual reality and back fully integrated into the exploration process, the advantages of classic meetings and collaborative 3D data analysis can be ideally combined.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: MAixCAVE – Ein immersives VR-System zur kollaborativen Datenanalyse
• Instrumentation Group: 7460 Interaktive graphische Bildschirmsysteme
• Applicant Institution: Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
• Leader: Professor Dr. Torsten Wolfgang Kuhlen