The Interactive Design Center (IDC) is located in the new Distributed Information Systems Laboratory (DISL) at Sandia/California. This state-of-the-art facility provides designers, engineers, and analysts with a visualization environment in which to work interactively to evaluate and modify nuclear weapons designs in real-time. Funded by DOE/NNSA's Advanced Simulation and Computing Program, the IDC is part of the larger strategy to develop an integrated approach to simulation-based stockpile stewardship. Enabled by dramatic improvements in modeling and simulation, the IDC provides design teams with advanced tools for visualization, data comprehension, and remote collaboration. (more text below image)
The IDC's primary application is the visualization of complex multi-megabit data sets on a large, high-fidelity display system. Desktop displays have limited size and resolution which limit the viewer's ability to discern small details.
By comparison, the IDC's thirty foot wide main display has over 35 million pixels to show extremely fine detail in highly complex models and simulations. As these details become apparent, design team members are better able to comprehend their designs, thus reducing design iterations and cycle time. Additionally, design teams may incorporate remote participants with the IDC's integrated videoconferencing systems and collaboration tools.
The IDC staff provides full operational support and user training, and develops software applications specific to customers' needs. The IDC's visualization and collaboration team supports designers, engineers and analysts by: