Interactive Visualization of 3-D Mantle Convection Extended Through AJAX Applications

We have designed a new software system for real-time interactive visualization of results taken directly from large-scale simulations of 3-D mantle convection and other large-scale simulations. This approach allows for intense visualization sessions for a couple of hours as opposed to storing massive amounts of data in a storage system. Our data sets consist of 3-D data for volume rendering with over 10 million unknowns at each timestep. Large scale visualization on a display wall holding around 13 million pixels has already been accomplished with extension to hand-held devices, such as the OQO and Nokia N800 and recently the iPHONE. We are developing web-based software in Java to extend the use of this system across long distances. The software is aimed at creating an interactive and functional application capable of running on multiple browsers by taking advantage of two AJAX-enabled web frameworks: Echo2 and Google Web Toolkit. The software runs in two modes allowing for a user to control an interactive session or observe a session controlled by another user. Modular build of the system allows for components to be swapped out for new components so that other forms of visualization could be accommodated such as Molecular Dynamics in mineral physics or 2-D data sets from lithospheric regional models.