IRIS Explorer

1. Platforms, prices, and company
• PC Windows (NT/2000); PC Linux (Red Hat 5.x/6.x); Silicon Graphics IRIX 6.x; Sun SPARC Solaris (2.x); DEC Alpha UNIX/Compaq Tru64 UNIX; HP 9000/700 HP-UX; IBM RISC/6000 (AIX)
• Product pricing and licensing options include: single machine license; floating server-based license; and run-time licenses for distributed applications. Annual support agreements include both technical support and product updates.
• Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG) http://www.nag.com
2. Applications
• 3D data visualization, animation and manipulation tool that uses a point and click interface for programming and developing customized visualization applications. Industry, universities, and research institutions including Nike, CERN, Exa, and the National Institute of Health (USA) use IRIS worldwide. IRIS Explorer utilizes the Open Inventor, Image Vision and OpenGL libraries, together with NAG's world-class numerical libraries. It is available on a broad range of Windows PC, Unix and Linux platforms.
3. Examples/Samples
• Several examples can be found at each of these sites: http://www.nag.com/visual/IE/iecbb/Posters/Index.html http://www.nag.com/visual/IE/iecbb/Posters/examples.html
4. Functions
• Modularity
• Modules are combined to create powerful visualization applications.
• There are approximately 300 reusable modules in IRIS Explorer 5.0.
• A new search facility allows users to find modules based on functionality.
• Modules can be accessed here: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/scivis/iris/doc/ref/man3/index.htm
• And here: http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/iecoe/main_repository.html
• And others from this site: http://www.nag.com/visual/IE/iecbb/Upload.html
• Visualization
• Pyramid modules - used to visualize unstructured meshes using isosurfaces, contouring and slicing.
• Vector data - visualized on an unstructured mesh using particle advection.
• Open Inventor scene graph - a collection of geometric primitives.
• Clipping
• Smoke
• Modules control all visualization techniques. The modules may be used individually or in combinations to form new concepts.
• Rendering
• Cameras: adjustable, movable - user defined viewpoints for navigation
• Lights: Light sources may be added to the scene
• Links from objects in the scene to other related material using the VRML Anchor node
• Animation
• Accepts images in byte lattices and buffers them in an internal image list. Images are interactively added or deleted from the list. Sequences are played back in a custom 24-bit (or 12-bit) window. There are controls for:
• Single stepping
• Going forwards and backwards
• Jumping to a particular image
• Adjusting the animation delay
• Looping
• Saving the image for later animation
• Generate horizontal or vertical planes from a 3-D perimeter or curvilinear lattice.
• Manipulation
• Maps are built from modules with connections defining the data flow.
• Modules are controlled via parameters.
• Reshape the map by adding other modules.
• Internal Libraries
• NAG Numerical Library - over 1000 routines
• Image Vision
• Open Inventor (VRML)
5. Web Resources
• IRIS information: http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/iecoe/
• IRIS information: http://www.nag.com/Welcome_IEC.html
• Download a demo version: http://www.nag.com/visual/IE/iecbb/IE_Demo.asp
• Render Magazine for IRIS users: http://www.nag.com/visual/IE/iecbb/Render/Issues.html