Graphics cluster for the visualisation of virtual environments in the cultural heritage sector

Abstract

We use visualisation technology to engage people with cultural heritage in much the same way that story and song have for millenia. The Internet has not yet lived up to its potential to distribute these high-fidelity, visually stimulating virtual environments. As such it is the responsibility of the cash-strapped museum sector to provide these experiences. This paper describes our approach of using the traditional stability of UNIX coupled with the low-cost of GNU/Linux on commodity hardware to provide an easy-to-use technology base for a non-IT sector. Unlike other clusters designed to provide for high-performance computing or highly available services, our cluster is designed for distributed rendering of graphics. We further demonstrate how we use chromium and distributed multi-headed X to address the dollar-cost of high-fidelity content production for cultural visualisation.