The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Emerging Analytics Center recently showcased two virtual reality student projects during Supercomputing 2015 (SC2015), an international conference for high performance computing, networking, storage, and analysis.

During the Nov. 15-20 conference in Austin, Texas, the Emerging Analytics Center (EAC) shared booth No. 592 with the Great Plains Network. This represented the first time the University of Arkansas at Little Rock had a presence in the prestigious scientific conference.

“EAC’s expertise is bringing virtual reality to the HPC (high performing computing) community, opening new and exciting research opportunities aligned with the current trends in visualization,” said Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, EAC director. “Virtual reality is much more than fun and games; it is a powerful tool for scientific research, discovery, and learning.”

SC attracts 10,000-plus attendees from throughout the world, bringing together an exclusive group of scientists, researchers, department managers, lab directors, and funding program directors from all corners of the HPC and networking industry.

“It is exciting to see UALR becoming part of the leading community in HPC, having a visible contribution to the conference’s exhibit area showcasing the talent of our students and faculty” Cruz-Neira said.

The projects and systems the EAC showed this year represent a glimpse of what is to come with recent advances in virtual reality and how this emerging technology can support and enhance scientific insight.

This year’s demonstrations were made possible by support from the George W. Donaghey Foundation and the Arkansas Research Alliance.