Science at the Speed of Thought - Ambient Intelligence for Scientific Discovery - page 22

becomes a powerful tool to ferret out important scientific results from otherwise
incomprehensible volumes of data. Each component is essential to create a pro-
ductive environment. Software and hardware capabilities must handle issues of
networking and communicating over distances and times. They must take into
account the varying resources of the scientists using them, and be capable of
growing with new technology as it emerges. The software must be easily avail-
able on user-accessible systems. Software tools must handle all types of needs in
terms of making scientific data available for viewing in a visualization system,
and then making it accessible for user interaction. Limits of scientific resolution
lie in how well data can be represented in a visualization system. Tools must be
available for studying a wide range of different types of data, on all different size
scales, and in a wide range of incoming formats.
The challenges lie in creating a foundation for the Virtual Laboratory that
can be built upon as technology changes, and as computational tools improve.
Assembling packages of individual tools that can be put together in a variety
of useful ways, our current Virtual Laboratory is the beginning of a robust,
encompassing scientific laboratory of the future.
5Dimr
Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this
paper to foster understanding. Such identification does not imply recommenda-
tion or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor
does it imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best
available for the purpose.
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