AVL - Creating the Future

Located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Advanced Visualization Laboratory (AVL) continues to swiftly and efficiently improve society with its visualizations. AVL is a research group within the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) that is supported by the state of Illinois, the National Science Foundation, and grants from other federal agencies. In addition to the NSCA, AVL is also partnered with eDream to “serve as an interdisciplinary center for arts-led creative thought and technical innovation." The mission of AVL is “to communicate science, inspiring audiences to learn about scientific concepts through capturing the thrill of scientific discovery and wonder of complex systems."  

These visualizations created by AVL act as a “tool for discovery” by allowing scientists to see inside natural phenomena and learn with these sophisticated simulations. The simulations allow scientists to look further into what they are studying by allowing them to observe from a different angle and therefore gain more understanding. For instance, with these simulations, a scientist could literally type in the exact dimensions of the tornado and watch it play out in 3D with this interactive software. And the more we know and understand about disasters, such as tornados or hurricanes, the better we can prepare for them.



University of Illinois Students experiencing the visualizations for themselves on a visit to NSCA



The work of AVL has received much public attention as it contributed to: the IMAX Warner Bros. (who’s “Hubble 3D IMAX won three Giant Screen Cinema Association Awards in 2010 for Best Film Produced Exclusively For Giant Screen Theaters), Lifelong Learning, and Cinematography.” AVL work was also featured in Computer Graphic World for Black Holes on “Scientific Visualization,” and their researchers presented two TED talks in one month.

Their work can be seen by the public at any time with a visit to NSCA on the University of Illinois campus.