The UTS Data Arena provides a powerful way to simplify complexity.

Today we all use computers. We generate data. The way we represent data has generally been limited by the printed page. We've drawn 2D (X,Y) graphs since the 1600's.  3D models and computer animation introduce many new ways to illustrate data, which provide better clarity.

It's the sort of new understanding achieved when DNA was first represented as a double-helix.

Within the Data Arena theatre, columns of data are selected to animate 3D models. The entire audience can interact with the imagery being displayed. The data representation, your 3D model, can be designed to achieve specific discoveries. Data can become a place which surrounds you in Virtual Reality (VR).

The Data Arena offers high-end computer graphics pipelines to help make sense of big data. Deep visual immersion can assist Industry & Government to identify patterns, discover trends, and steer research.

The Data Arena can be used for/to:

1. Big data exploration with multi-user interaction
2. Virtual reality architectural site walk‑through
3. Full-surround 3D stereo video projection - i.e., a Virtual Reality Cave
4. Scientific visualisation of complex data sets
5. Examine, filter, segment, slice, and classify datasets in immersive 3D stereo
6. 3D volumetric display (generation and manipulation of 3D voxels)
7. Obtain a better understanding of your data – the quality and quantity
8. Group collaboration in a shared immersive 3D virtual environment
9. Education, teaching and learning
10. Research and development.

Just as a good scientific experiment is designed to make a clear discrimination, a good data visualisation is designed to provide clear insight. We are creating data pipelines designed for specific exploration, and sharing them for open modification to support new data types. The Data Arena can show you how to easily explore fifteen dimensions, and more. It's simpler than you might imagine.

Already, the UTS Data Arena has been used to generate a 3D volumetric model of a parasite from microscope image slices, identify biological markers in childhood cancer patients, track bacteria, travel through physical structures and create unparalleled computer graphics for film, fashion and entertainment!

The UTS Data Arena uses open-source software to transform numbers into interactive 3D geometry, enabling this user-friendly technology to be shared by all.

The technical capabilities of the UTS Data Arena include:

1. Software: OmegaLib & Equalizer provide a load-balanced rendering system running on a cluster of 7 high-end servers with a combined 448GB RAM and 25,920 GPU Cuda Cores.
2. 3D animation software from the feature film industry which is used to generate geometry.
3. Data organisation into channels. Each channel can then be mapped to a geometric attribute such as (x,y,z) position, rotation, (r,g,b) colour, icons, even to 3D sound, etc.
4. Data can be aggregated from any kind of digital device – from microscopes and mobile phones to transport cards and fitness apps.
5. Interaction via smart phone, 3D mice, motion capture video markers, PlayStation controllers, Virtual Reality Wands, WiFi devices (iPad), Midi, OSC, USB, and Bluetooth input devices.
6. Use of open-source software, meaning users are at liberty to access the fundamentals of the underlying source code and tailor it to their own purposes.

Data Arena data visualisation pipelines are maintained in open-source git repositories, allowing them to be constantly shared and improved. The software is also available as a free download, allowing offsite development in a virtual machine on your own device(s) before importing it into the Data Arena environment.