VISTA Collaboratory

The Visualization-Innovation-Science-Technology-Application (VISTA) Collaboratory is a state of the art visualization lab capable of displaying massive datasets in real time. It facilitates the visualization and collaborative exploration of large and complex datasets. It is equipped with an interactive, tiled-display wall that renders massive data sets in real time, giving faculty researchers the ability to visualize and analyze complex data instantaneously and collaboratively with colleagues and students.

At 20 feet wide and 8 feet tall—consisting of 24 displays arranged in a curved 4 x 6 matrix—the display wall creates an immersive experience. Both static and dynamic visual content are clear and crisp at 50-megapixel resolution, driven by a clustered GPU rendering system.

Please note that reservations are required to use the VISTA, please see our Reservations page for more information.

The VISTA Collaboratory is located in Carlson Library on River Campus. Upon entering Carlson Library, take the glass staircase (or elevator) down to the 1st floor and head straight past all of the computer workstations to the far end of the building. You should see large lettering on the outside of the VISTA Collaboratory.

Using the Lab

The Center for Integrated Research Computing (CIRC) provides technical support for the VISTA Collaboratory. To request use of the lab, or for technical questions or assistance, contact CIRC.

How It Works

The VISTA Collaboratory is directly connected to the supercomputers in the Research Data Center over a dedicated 10 GB optical network. It interacts with the Research Data Center like a desktop computer system, but on a much larger scale.

General Information

The VISTA Collaboratory is equipped with:

A 50 mega-pixel display
Several high end graphics workstations (Windows, Linux, and Mac)
10 Gbps direct fiber connection back to Research Data Center
Sound System
Video Conferencing capabilities
6 tables with VGA, HDMI, audio, network, & power connections to allow several researchers to simultaneously share content directly off of their laptops to the 50 mega-pixel display
Seating for up to 40 individuals inside, with additional seating possible behind the glass wall
Privacy blinds for dealing with sensitive data
And of course – anaglyph 3D glasses

The VISTA is very flexible and has been used for:

Analysis of high resolution and/or multidimensional datasets
Collaborative research with a few individuals
Research group meetings
Video conferencing
Workshops
Symposium
Classes