From: cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu (Bob Jacobson)
Subject: New IBM Visualization Machine
Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1991 20:12:35 GMT
Organization: HIT Lab, Seattle WA.



The WALL STREET JOURNAL (7/25/91) reports that IBM yesterday unveiled a
new machine specifically for visualization.  It combines 32 Intel i860
processors in a manner that enables the "Power Visualization System" to
do a claimed 2.5 billion flops/second.  The machine will cost from
$600K to $2 million, about a tenth the cost of a comparable Cray machine,
according to the WSJ.

This is not a virtual world driver per se, but it is certainly starting
to get close to the envelope of price/performance acceptability for
high-end applications.  According to the article, other firms will soon
be introducing similar machines, accelerating the trend toward smaller
and faster.

The researchers quoted in the article seem universally stoked.  Malvin
Kalos, director of Cornell's Theory Center, did some molecular electrical
simulations.  According to Kalos, when some assumptions were changed,
the new image appeared immediately.  "It was vivid, and it happened 
before I could get bored," he told the WSJ.

More details, please.

Bob Jacobson
Moderator