The objective of this research effort is to begin to develop basic software for an innovative, new, volumetric display. This display, which is based on the principle of two intersecting laser beams to address volumetric pixels in a cube of transparent optical material, provides enhanced visualization attributes over what is currently available using flat screen displays. The hardware for this technology has just emerged and as such, only low level software, which is not compatible with existing platforms, exists. This effort will focus on molecular modeling as an application, but has the potential to address many areas of science and medicine that use volumetric data sets, such as those obtained from MRI, CT-Scan, and Ultra-Sound. The project will evaluate basic display performance parameters and create a set of optimal algorithms for creating simple line drawings. It will also develop a well-defined application programmer interface, and determine the appropriateness of using the display for interactive molecular modeling applications.
Potential commercial applications for this technology include visualization of molecular data for pharmaceutical drug design, visualization of MRI, CT-Scan, and Ultra Sound data for diagnostics and treatment planning, and visualization of general volumetric scientific and medical data.
