Necessary Tools

Abstract

This article reviews that the rate of discovery obtained from an experiment or a computational model is enhanced and accelerated by using parallel computing techniques, visualization algorithms, and advanced visualization hardware. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD, team believe that high-performance computing speeds discovery within the sciences. It defines advanced computing methods as those technologies that possess capabilities beyond current state-of-the-art desktop computing. Visualization tools, for example, now extend beyond the three-dimensional computer-aided design model viewable on a desktop computer to include virtual reality software and hardware. A cave automatic virtual environment, called a CAVE, features four walls onto which an image is projected in 3D so that engineers feel they are standing in front of an object. Researchers at Iowa State and NIST’s engineers both say the future of technology won't happen without advanced computing methods, including visualization, virtual reality, and parallel computing.