Software Tools to Enable Immersive Simulation

Abstract

There are two main avenues to design space exploration. In the first approach, a simulation is run, analyzed, the problem modified, and the simulation run again. In the second approach, an ensemble simulation is performed and the battery of results is leveraged to construct a surrogate model for a given quantity of interest (QoI). The first approach allows a practitioner to methodically move through the design space and analyze a solution field. A disadvantage of this technique is that each new simulation requires time consuming setup. The second approach provides the practitioner with a global view of the problem, but requires a priori design space limits and the QoI specification. In this work we introduce an immersive simulation software framework that enables practitioners to maintain the flexibility of the first approach, while eliminating the burden of setting up new simulations. Immersive simulation can also be used to inform the second approach, establishing limits and clarifying QoI selection prior to the launch of an ensemble simulation. We demonstrate live, reconfigurable visualization of on-going simulations coupled with live, reconfigurable problem definition that guides users in determining problem parameters. Ultimately, an immersive simulation framework enables more efficient design space exploration that reduces the gap between simulations, data analysis and insight extraction.