Show-and-tell at Stony Brook's research center

A half dozen people stood inside a colon examining a footwide polyp as Stony Brook University researchers had a high-tech show-and-tell session Monday afternoon at its Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology.

"The doctor can virtually fly through and inspect for polyps," said Kal Petkov, the graduate research assistant demonstrating the center's Virtual Reality Lab, known as "The Cave." "This is actually someone's colon."

The colonic visitors viewed it projected on four walls and the floor with special glasses while Petkov navigated through the colon - constructed from CT scans - with a video game controller.

In the same lab, Petkov flew visitors above Stony Brook, examined details within the university's under-construction Simons Center for Geometry and Physics and navigated among flying cars in an imagined Manhattan of 2050.

"Hopefully we're going to get them soon, because it will help with congestion," Petkov said of the cars. With scenery floating by beneath viewers' feet, it was remarkably like floating in air. Or in a colon.

The occasion of the display of computational power and creativity was the first anniversary of the center's opening in what is to become a high-tech research park. In addition to research, this center and future ones dedicated to alternative energy and other areas are expected to nurture new businesses and jobs on Long Island, center director Satya Sharma said.

"We take research and create solutions that can be commercialized," he said.

Some of those efforts, though less breathtaking than the virtual reality lab, have already been successful. Several chief executives of new companies spoke of the technical resources Stony Brook and the center provided, in addition to highly skilled employees.

"Finding young talent was a challenge," said Tal Eidelerg, chief executive of Intrigma, based in the center's business incubator that develops sophisticated scheduling software. "The university helped a great deal with that."

University president Dr. Samuel L. Stanley said that's part of the school's proper role, to bring researchers and young businesses together to help each other.

"It's really been a hub for innovation throughout the campus," Stanley said of the center. "You create these kind of constructive collisions."

The university also benefits, he said. Researchers get ideas from established industry, and financial support comes as well, he said.

And there's more coming. Impressive as The Cave is, it will be a pipsqueak compared to a 1.25-billion pixel, 308-panel, surround-video enclosure now in the works at the center.

Chief scientist Arie Kaufman said users will zoom in by walking closer to the screen, and move images by swiping their hands through the air.

It is expected to be operating in a year, perhaps in time for show-and-tell next year.