Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment: Revolutionizing High-Resolution Collaboration

1. Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment Jason Leigh, Andrew Johnson, Luc Renambot, Thomas A. DeFanti, Computer Science Primary Grant Support: National Science Foundation & Office of Naval Research • A key component missing in today’s high-definition video conferencing solutions is the ability to share content at high resolution and frame rates. • Ultra-high-resolution display walls are fast becoming affordable and are already in widespread use in scientific research and development. • In the future all the walls of offices, laboratories and meeting rooms will be covered with digital wallpaper on which information can be posted. • Needed is the equivalent of a “Windows” operating system to enable next-generation applications and user-interfaces to make use of these display walls. • The Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment (SAGE) is a scalable software system that enables users to work with scalable display environments as intuitively as working on their laptop. • SAGE is designed to operate on tiled displays driven by a cluster of computers connected by high-speed networks. • Content for the displays can be generated from remote computers and streamed in real-time for display on the walls. • Users can manipulate the content in real-time using wireless pointers and keyboards, including the ability to stream one’s own laptop to the display wall. • SAGE is now being used by over a dozen institutions in the world equipped with tiled high resolution display walls including Sharp and Nortel Networks. • SAGE is now capable of Visualcasting, which allows high resolution content and High-definition video to be broadcasted to multiple distributed sites simultaneously to facilitate distance collaboration between users on tiled display walls. • For more information: http://www.evl.uic.edu/cavern/sage