NEWS BRIEFS

Warwick, UNITED KINGDOM — Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced the first manifestation of its effort to develop flexible, scalable 3D solutions for the Collaborative Product Commerce (CPC) market. These solutions allow customers and system integrators to incorporate top quality virtual display technology at a fraction of the usual cost. The Sun Enterprise 450 workgroup servers, powered by the Sun Expert3D graphics accelerators, have been selected by PTC, the product development company and a leading provider of (CPC) solutions, to support its Collaboration Center at the University of Warwick, UK. PTC’s Collaboration Center is a 3D graphics environment that allows large audiences to view and interact with critical, product-related information through a large virtual display.

Trimension Systems, known for providing immersive technology for a wide range of applications, from planetariums to single Virtual Reality solutions, combines the display components of the Collaboration Center Theatre at Warwick with a Sun Enterprise 450 workgroup server and Sun Expert3D graphics accelerators to form an integrated solution. The solution connects to workstations and a PC that links demonstrators to the Internet and to PTC’s suite of CPC applications. Together, this configuration combines and blends images that drive three rear-screen projectors that illuminate a large 6 by 2 metre (16.6 X 5.6 feet) ReaCTor-Wall for an audience of up to 50. Displaying its versatility, the ReaCTor-Wall has been configured to drive anything from a single large X-window to a multi-image presentation, as well as support completely immersive 3D visualization with large-scale data sets, overview presentations and multimedia applications.

“PTC uses its Collaboration Center Theatres to present live demonstrations of scenarios that represent real-world manufacturing enterprises. Like any large corporation, reducing internal IT complexity is an ongoing goal for PTC,” said Mark Hodges, senior vice president of Industry and Reference Marketing at PTC. “Sun Microsystems’ Sun Enterprise 450 server, combined with Sun Expert3D graphics accelerators, offer a flexible, scalable product with cost-efficient benefits proven in our new Collaboration Center Theatre at the University of Warwick.”

Used primarily to exhibit PTC’s CPC software solutions, including ProENGINEER, Windchill and its visualization and virtual prototyping products, the Collaboration Center Theatre at the University of Warwick showcases real-world scenarios focused on the aerospace, automotive and shipbuilding industries.

“With Sun Microsystems’ Sun Enterprise 450 server, Sun has enabled us to enhance our solutions with a high-quality, cost-effective product, that benefits all parties involved,” said Blair Parkin, president of Trimension Systems, Inc. “We have found that many of our customers would rather deploy several, less expensive VR centers throughout their enterprise rather than having a single, multi-million dollar facility. This new architecture from Sun enables our customers to do this without any compromise in price or performance.”

“We have enjoyed considerable success and are optimistic about our opportunities in the CPC market,” said Doug Kaewert, vice president, Market Development, Sun Microsystems. “PTC’s Collaboration Center Theatre at the University of Warwick is yet another strong example of Sun’s investment in strategic relationships. Sun, PTC, and the University of Warwick will enable a far larger audience in the CPC marketplace to witness the power of collaboration that uses high-end visualization for product development. The combined technologies from Sun and Trimension Systems are key to this message.”

Sun Microsystems’ top-quality, visual collaboration solution offers an affordable answer for customers and partners, ordinarily discouraged by cost, looking to advance in the virtual technology arena. With the grand opening of the Collaboration Center Theatre at the University of Warwick, Sun has taken the first step in a new market direction that will allow enterprises to benefit from Sun’s cost-efficient, advanced graphics technology.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision – The Network Is The Computer – has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With $17.6 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com . Sun’s UK’s web site can be found at http://sun.co.uk .

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