Silo: Half-Gigapixel Cylindrical Stereoscopic Immersive Display

We present the design and construction of the Silo, a fully immersive stereoscopic cylindrical tiled-display visualization facility. Comprising 168 high-density LCD displays, the facility provides an ultra-high-resolution image of 619 million pixels, and close to 360 horizontal field-of-regards (FoR), aiming to maximize visual acuity and completely engage the human visual sensorium and its periphery. In this article, we outline the motivations, design principles, hardware selection and software systems, and interaction modalities used in constructing the Silo. To address missing visual information due to the absence of a ceiling and floor, we have designed a method that utilizes conformal mapping and optimal mass transport to reproject the entire 360 volumetric FoR of the virtual scene to the available display real estate. We showcase several applications demonstrating the utility of the Silo and report the findings of our user studies that highlight the effectiveness of the Silo layout compared to curved mono and flat powerwall display facilities. Our user evaluations and studies have shown that the Silo supports natural exploration and enhanced visualization due to its capability to render surround ultra-high-resolution stereoscopic views.