Interactive Exploration of the In-Situ Visualization of a Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation

Abstract

We propose a new visualization method for large-scale computer simulations called “4D Street View”. This method uses omnidirectional in-situ visualization cameras to record a simulation from multiple viewpoints. The omnidirectional video dataset produced by the simulation is then analyzed interactively. In this paper, we apply the method to a magnetohydrodynamics turbulence simulation with 64 viewpoints to prove that it is possible to achieve interactive in-situ visualization for supercomputer simulations. Three types of in-situ visualization by omnidirectional cameras (with 4π steradian solid angle) from each viewpoint are applied. At the end of the simulation, a video dataset with 192 omnidirectional video files is produced. We demonstrate that we can change the viewing position, angle, and applied visualization method interactively using a specially designed application program.