Gigapixel-sized images goal of artist/scientist team at 'Big Picture Summit'

December 10, 2004, Albuquerque, NM--A group of artists and scientists that organizers have dubbed the "dream team" of imaging and visualization are gathered at New York University this week to begin to create a photographic system capable of capturing and displaying a gigapixel--one billion pixels--of visual information in a single image.

The first Big Picture Summit, Dec. 8 and 9, is organized by artist-photographer Clifford Ross and co-hosted by Sandia National Laboratories and the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

The scientists have different but complementary goals. Computational scientists at Sandia, a National Nuclear Security Administration lab, believe a display system of the magnitude proposed by Ross will enhance the ability of its scientists to visualize and gain insight from massively complex data sets that can be understood only through human intuition, ranging from supercomputer-generated physics simulations to high-resolution satellite imagery.

Ross' newly patented R1 camera system, which broke through the gigapixel barrier, has achieved some of the highest resolution single-shot images ever created.
The project could have major implications for all industries that rely on precise imaging, including environmental science, space exploration, telecommunications, and homeland security, says Diegert. The project has two parts. The first is to design and build a new camera, expanding on concepts embodied in the R1, that can capture a gigapixel of digital information at a speed of 1/15th of a second or faster. The second part is to create the display system, which Ross likens to building an "electronic Sistine ceiling." It will have 16 times greater data display capabilities than one currently in use at Sandia, among the world's most advanced. The display would provide an overall view of images at a very large scale while allowing viewers to perceive extremely fine detail.