”National Update” from Norway to IST-021/RTG-007:
Multimedia Visualisation of Massive Military Datasets
Tore Smestad, April 2002
email: Tore.Smestad@ffi.no
(All the national updates can be found on http://www.vistg.net/documents/National_reports/index.html.)
This is the third version of “National Updates” from Norway. The structure is almost as in the first and second editions (May 2001 and September 2001) and according to the guidelines for these updates, see http://www.vistg.net/documents/National_reports/update.guidelines.html.
This update contains the same elements as the previous one with a few additions of military related applications at the end. These elements are hopefully representative of the visualization research and activity in Norway, but by no means complete. The elements of each reported items are:
Item: A title of the item containing some data for enabling an identification
Category: Grouping the type of report elements (here only textually described)
Description: Description as long or as short as the presenter deems necessary.
References: To make a reader able to get hold of additional information, f ex web-address
Update: Who put in the data and when.
Item: Major research and education units in Norway involved in visualization
Category: Summary
Description:
This list hopefully includes most of such units having current and noticeably activities in visualization. The references are made to a general web page, many of which are written in Norwegian. Hopefully, the information found here might be to some help for further search and references. Most of the other reporting elements of this update are result of activities in some of these institutions. The institutions are grouped alphabetically under their location in Norway.
Oslo:
FFI (www.ffi.no), SINTEF in Oslo (www.oslo.sintef.no),
VERITAS (www.norwegian-shipping.com/company/veritas.html)
Trondheim:
HIST ( www.hist.no ), NTNU (www.ntnu.no) especially at ITK (www.itk.ntnu.no).
Bergen:
CMR (www.cmr.no)
Halden:
IFE ( www.ife.no )
References: See above.
Update: Tore Smestad, May 2001, still valid April 2002.
Item: Transparent volume visualization by “Viz” used for flow phenomena in 3-D
Category: Software and application experience
Description:
Numeric simulations of flow phenomena in 3-D at FFI called for advanced 3-D visualization. Software were then developed for powerful Silicon Graphics machines. The software now called “Viz” is further developed at FFI and made more general. Viz is made for extremely fast voxel based volume rendering. Many groups working in the field of high performance computing use Viz for visualisation. Most significant is perhaps the use Viz by some of the ASCI (Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative) groups in USA.
References: See ftp://ftp.ffi.no/spub/stsk/viz/index.html and J.O.Langseth: "3D visualization of shock waves using volume rendering" to appear in Proc. Godunov Methods: Theory and Applications, Oxford, 1999.
Update: Tore Smestad, May 2001, still valid April 2002.
Item: Use of VR in petroleum production offshore in Norway
Category: Application experience
Description:
Research activities in the institute CMR in Bergen resulted in a firm applying VR-technology in different aspects of petroleum production, now obviously bought by Schlumberger.
References: See under “Success stories” in www.insidereality.com
Update: Tore Smestad, May 2001, still valid April 2002..
Item: HIST educates students using Statoil facilities for visualisation of petroleum
production offshore in Norway
Category: Education and applications
Description:
A cooperation started in the autumn 1999 between HIST (education near the University level) and the oil company “Statoil” in Trondheim for visualization of work operations in offshore oil production. It has resulted in the so called “Statoil's Change and Learning Lab” (SELL). Approximately 20 students each year choose this possibility.
References: A start address is http://129.241.149.139/ (most in Norwegian). See also www.gasandoil.com/goc/company/cne95016.htm
Update: Tore Smestad, May 2001, most links are updated April 2002.
Item: The HAMMLAB and the Virtual Reality Centre in Halden
Category: Laboratory facilities
Description:
Hammlab is a laboratory facility for experiments in control room situations motivated by international cooperation in nuclear power plant safety (the OECD Halden reactor project). Central topics have been situation awareness and development of software to assist humans.
References: See www.ife.no/english/tillegg/index.jsp?avdelingsId=1963&tilleggId=1228
for HAMMLAB and www.external.hrp.no for the OECD Halden reactor project
with a link to “Halden Virtual Reality Centre”
Update: Tore Smestad, May 2001, still valid April 2002.
Item: Visualisation of ultrasound measurements
Category: An application in medicine
Description:
CMR in Bergen has worked with various applications for visualization in medicine. One is to view the shape of organs etc “viewed” by ultrasound measurements. (Some years ago I was presented a 3-D picture of the face of an unborn baby – I did not find it now.).
References: Click on “Departments: Advanced computing” and further on “3-D ultrasound” in
www.cmr.no.
Update: Tore Smestad, May 2001, still valid April 2002.
Item: Example of general VR technology
Category: Company
Description: The Norwegian company "MGI Technology AS" uses Silicon Graphics computers in their VR-solutions. Their current focus is on the constructions industry.
References: www.mgi.no (not accessible April 2002).
Update: Tore Smestad, September 2001 (unsuccessfully tested April 2002).
Item: "KIKS" - a multidisciplinary program on body-carried information- and
communication systems
Category: Research program
Description: The vision for a carried information- and communication system is that the operation in a process plant will have access to all necessary information at all time end places, such that this type of equipment may substitute today's central control rooms.
References: http://www.itk.ntnu.no/KIKS/kiks.htm (in norwegian)
Update: Tore Smestad, September 2001, link is updated April 2002..
Item: Tests and research of wearable computers in maritime application
Category: Research activity
Description: The maritime classification company "Det Norske Veritas" (DNV) was involved in testing a prototype of a wearable computer (from IBM) from December 1999 to March 2000 for ship inspection. This is an example of research activity on wearable computers for maritime applications.
References: A description of this was found in a Norwegian techical magazine ("Teknisk Ukeblad" no 16 April 2001, http://www.tekblad.no/show_article.asp?id=3274) written in Norwegian. An other reference to this type of general activity in Norway is a paper found at http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~johnson/papers/mobile/HCIMD1.html titled "Developing Scenarios for Mobile CSCW". Further references might be found in the paper. See also the item above about "KIKS")
Update: Tore Smestad, September 2001, valid April 2002 except the link to the article.
Item: Simulation systems and VR used in the Norwegian Armed Forces
Category: Military education and training
Description: Installations for military educations and training using different VR technology in simulation systems are found in all three services in Norway. The main purpose is to make the education and training more cost effective. The systems are used for a number of different weapons and weapon systems, both for individual training and for different sizes of teams. Most of the systems for the Army are found at Rena while those for the Navy are located in Bergen. The Air Force have systems at Rygge and Bodø.
References: More about the systems and their use are found at ftp://ftp.rta.nato.int/PubFullText/RTO/TR/RTO-TR-018/7D.pdf.
Update: Tore Smestad, April 2002.
Item: Command and Control/Combat Management Lab at FFI
Category: Laboratory facilities able for visualisation research
Description: This laboratory was built in connection with a now completed project at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), and might be used for different purposes included data fusion and visualization experiments/research. The lab has a heterogeneous computer network with workstations and PCs. It runs software for visualization and for simulating different platforms, missiles, sensors, and communication systems, and is based on High Level Architechture (HLA). The lab is equipped with a 3-D table using passive stereo, projectors for presenting multiple large screen displays, two 3-screen panoramic display units, in addition to the screens associated with the different workstations and PCs. The use of COTS in Combat Management Systems has been an important focus up to now.
References: Contact person: Chief Scientist Karsten Bråthen, e-mail: kab@ffi.no.
Update: Tore Smestad, April 2002.