VirtualGeography is a collection of interesting snippets from all over the shop, dealing with industry issues concerning the computer based visualisation of geography and a few other associated (or otherwise) interesting bits and pieces. You are receiving this either because you subscribed to VirtualGeography or you have had recent dealings with VizMAP Pty Ltd. If you do not wish to receive further instalments of VirtualGeography, just click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this e-mail. 

A new VirtualGeography is pushed out about once per month, towards the end of the month, which shouldn’t be too big a drain on your mailbox if you’re not already subscribed (of course it won’t be a drain on your mailbox if you ARE subscribed, either ). If you know of anyone who might like to get VirtualGeography, feel free to forward this to them and ask them to subscribe. By the way, subscription and unsubscription details are at the bottom (click here).

So, g’day to all you enthusiasts requiring to visualise and simulate both urban and rural geographic information (GIS), cartography, photogrammetry, remote sensing, digital elevation modelling (DEM) and general mapping.

By the spelling of "Visualisation" you may have already guessed that we’re not US based – that’s a good thing, or at least not a bad thing. This comes to you from Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia, where it’s beautiful one day and perfect the next. The link between visualisation and mapping may seem a little esoteric if this is your first encounter with this sort of stuff, but let me tell you, the bond is significant… but enough of that: on with the show… I hope you like it. Any feedback you might have is highly appreciated. E-mail me hereto make your comments. Enjoy… Graeme Brooke VizMAP Pty Ltd

P.S. You’ll need an active internet connection to view any images that are in the content. We’ve done it this way to keep the size of the e-mail to a minimum.

Vis-sim.org is an unbiased resource for information about the Visual Simulation industry and community. It is a place to find software, hardware, technical info, data, and just about anything else you need to do vis-sim. It is also a place to interact with the Visual Simulation community; to talk to experts, developers, program managers, and others from all over the industry. Vis-sim.org also provides all the latest news and events pertaining to vis-sim.

Who owns/runs/operates vis-sim.org?

The site is not directly affiliated with or sponsored by any software vendor,hardware vendor, or contractor. Vis-sim.org is run by an independent group of vis-sim veterans, enthusiasts, and experts. We wish to provide a quality, useful, and more important of all, unbiased resource for the vis-sim community. Go here for more info.

What does vis-sim.org hope to accomplish?

Visual Simulation is a complex industry. One of the reasons it has remained such a "niche" is that entry into the vis-sim world is difficult. The technology is constantly changing, the learning curves are steep, and there are many players. Educating the customer is one of the hardest parts of selling products or services in this industry. With a community resource such as this, people can finally jump into the fray with the ability to make educated decisions when choosing products and services.

This is the review of the Intel Pentium 3.06 GHz processor, and to date nothing can beat it. The press package came with PC1066 RDRAM, an awesome combination but also a very expensive one. We did it a bit different though, as I knew this processor would be submitted to us I asked the guys from Albatron to send in their best Pentium  mainboard and they did. Combined with DDR400 memory we manage to produce breathtaking numbers for a very reasonable price with 100% stability.

There is something new in this CPU, you all know it, heard it and read about it so I will not waste too much time on it but of course this is Hyper-Threading technology.

Hyper-Threading  is a very innovative technology that basically makes a single ‘normal’ processor appear as two "logical" processors. It does this by adding a certain two-way aproach in the core, therefore splitting the CPU’s resources managed by the operating system. According to Intel, this results in a performance increase in applications that are designed and implemented to take advantage of multi-threading, as well as applications using otherwise-idle CPU resources. Although a motherboard, BIOS, CPU and a capable operating system such as Windows XP is required to utilize Hyper-Threading, the 3.06GHz Pentium 4 is the first processor from Intel to support it, it will still operate in a non-HT system problem free, you just don’t have Hyper Threading enabled then.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — SGI (NYSE: SGI – News) today announced the OpenGL Performer(TM) 3.0 application programming interface (API) upgrade for the IRIX®, Linux® and Windows® operating systems.
OpenGL Performer(TM) is a powerful API for creating high-performance 3D graphics applications in visual simulation, styling, analysis and entertainment environments. The software simplifies the creation of high- performance applications by providing sophisticated visual effects, multiprocessor, multipipe and multidisplay management, unsurpassed real-time performance, and a diverse suite of tools and features spanning the spectrum of industries using interactive visualization. A unified interface supports IRIX, Linux and Windows development and run-time environments, delivering true cross-platform power and investment protection for real-time 3D markets.

"SGI is excited to open up its powerful OpenGL Performer 3D graphics visualization technology to the Windows PC world," said Susan Tellep, director of product marketing at SGI. "Now, applications based on OpenGL Performer can be written and developed on one platform and deployed on IRIX, Linux or Windows systems. The amazing power, scalability and realism provided by OpenGL Performer for real-time 3D graphics in visual simulation and other 3D performance-oriented applications like virtual reality, interactive entertainment, broadcast video and computer-aided design can help these applications improve their customers’ capabilities and choices."

Designed especially to meet the exacting requirements of commercial aviation training, EPTM-1000CT is the first of a software-centered suite of products capable of running on a range of hardware platforms. 

E&S has taken advantage of the best of COTS and in-house technology to develop a visual system that creates the highest fidelity and most cost-effective training environments in the world. EP-1000CT offers solutions to a number of critical training issues raised throughout the commercial aviation community. 

Lufthansa Flight Training was the first airline to select E&S’s new EP-1000CT after 12 months of rigorous product demonstrations against key development milestones. 

"The new EP system will greatly enhance our training capabilities," said Capt. Dieter Hensel of Lufthansa German Airlines. "The EP-1000CT systems provide the advances in training environment fidelity that today’s aviation industry demands, thereby increasing the safety of our passengers and crew." 
Recent studies by agencies such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have cited the need for more realistic pilot training, particularly in the areas of approaches, landings, and severe weather scenarios. EP-1000CT improves pilot training by creating the most realistic training environments available today. In addition, there has long been a demand among airlines and training operators for faster and easier-to-generate databases. With EP-1000CT, databases can be generated or converted from other systems very quickly, sometimes in just a few hours. 

Sample still images from the completed dynamic visualisation database are displayed here. An active internet connection is required to be able to view these scenes.
 

Click on these small resampled images to view the full screen images on the VizMAP website. Bear in mind that these are just screen dumps from a dynamic, interactive, 3D "flythrough". 

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