Fakespace Delivers Walk-In Virtual Reality System to Egyptian Facility Designed to Recapture the Spirit of the Ancient Library of Alexandria

    MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Fakespace Systems Inc. today
 announced that it has delivered the latest generation FLEX(TM) visualization
 system to Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the New Library of Alexandria in Egypt.
 This walk-in virtual reality system will enable interactive work within
 three-dimensional computer-generated models and environments at the
 International School of Information Science (ISIS), a research center
 affiliated with the new Library, which is designed to recapture the spirit of
 the ancient center of learning.
     ISIS is the first facility in Africa and the Middle East to provide an
 advanced visualization tool of this scale.  Devoted to using the newest
 technology to preserve the past and to promote access to products of the human
 intellect, the facility will display 3D stereoscopic images generated from a
 state-of-the-art PC cluster, on the FLEX's three 10-ft x 10-ft vertical walls
 and the floor.
     The FLEX system will provide researchers in the region with the
 infrastructure they need to cooperate and work closely with researchers from
 all over the world and paves the road for future collaboration. As part of a
 new R&D environment it is expected to become a strategic means to securing
 sustainable development and growth in Egypt and the region.
     With virtual reality, or immersive visualization, researchers are able to
 experience simulations of natural or human-engineered phenomena in a way that
 provides new insights and understanding.  Often eliminating the need for
 physical models, work within virtual environments has been shown to save time
 and resources in both commercial and scientific research.
     The FLEX(TM) is an advanced re-configurable visualization solution for
 those whose viewing, collaboration, and presentation requirements cannot be
 met within the confines of a single visualization technology. The system is
 ideal for many applications in fields as diverse as medicine, engineering,
 architecture, socio-economic analysis, seismic interpretation and well
 planning, biotechnology research, manufacturing and design, fluid dynamics,
 and chemistry.
     With plans to open the facility before the end of February 2006, the
 FLEX(TM) at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina is configured with two vertical walls
 and a floor to form the corner of a cube, while a third vertical wall moves at
 the press of a button to change the environment from an immersive room to an
 L-shaped theater type configuration enabling viewing by a large audience. Five
 workstations are linked together to form a powerful data processor and image
 generator. The four projectors used in the FLEX render 1400 x 1050 pixels each
 and have a very bright light output rated at 7200 ANSI lumens.
 
     About Fakespace Systems Inc.
     Fakespace Systems Inc. designs and manufactures advanced interactive
 visualization systems, develops custom software applications, and integrates
 complete enterprise-wide solutions. Interactive visualization improves
 collaboration, discovery and learning for applications in automotive,
 aerospace, biotechnology, education, federal government, geophysical
 exploration, manufacturing, scientific research, and virtual prototyping.
 Fakespace is headquartered in Marshalltown, Iowa, USA. The company has global
 office locations in Canada, Europe, Asia and across the USA.
     More information on Fakespace is available at www.fakespace.com.
 
     About Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt
     The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), the New Library of Alexandria, is
 dedicated to recapture the spirit of the ancient Library of Alexandria, a
 center of world learning from 300 BC to 400 AD. Inaugurated in 2002, it is a
 window on the world for Egypt and the region, a challenge in the digital age
 and a vibrant center of intellectual debate -- a space of freedom, for
 dialogue between individuals and civilizations.
     The International School of Information Science (ISIS), one of the
 research centers affiliated with BA, will be managing and implementing the new
 system which it named VISTA (Virtually Immersive Science and Technology
 Applications). ISIS is devoted to using the newest technology to preserve the
 past and to promote access to the products of the human intellect.
     More information on Bibliotheca Alexandrina is available at
 www.bibalex.org.
     More information on ISIS is available at www.bibalex.org/ISIS.
 
 

SOURCE  Fakespace Systems Inc.