MAGIC-II, a follow-on to the original MAGIC project (MAGIC-I), will address scaling issues in state-of-the-art networks that support widely distributed data handling systems and applications. Specific areas of research include new techniques for interconnecting geographically dispersed high-speed networks, wireless access to real-time visualization, dynamically configured large-scale processing and storage systems, real-time access to sources of image data, and new approaches to organizing and presenting geographic data.

SRI's role in the MAGIC-II collaboration is to develop a new three-dimensional terrain visualization application, called TerraVision II, that will use widely distributed stored and real-time data to visualize a variety of data types such as maps, weather, and satellite and aerial imagery. Users can work on high-performance workstations connected to a high-speed network or on mobile workstations connected via wireless links.

TerraVision II and the MAGIC-II infrastructure will be a proof-of-concept system for a new generation of applications and data systems that can support rapid-response applications such as mission planning by the Department of Defense. In this example, a network-based TerraVision II user could request that three-dimensional satellite images be played back to visualize, from different viewpoints, how a situation had progressed over time. The user would also be able to see an overlay of weather patterns for the area.

MAGIC-II researchers will build on the technologies developed as part of the MAGIC-I effort, a three-year DARPA project that ended in mid-1995. TerraVision II will be based on TerraVision, the interactive terrain visualization system developed by SRI for MAGIC-I. TerraVision allows a user to move about a graphical representation of a landscape in real time. Users can overlay datasets on a map, pan and zoom over imagery, "fly through" the terrain in 3-D, view terrain in original lighting or at different simulated times of day, and superimpose building models and vehicles.

MAGIC-II will contribute to the development of advanced networking and distributed computing technologies by significantly increasing the number of networks involved and the number of users participating in distributed applications, as well as by expanding the capabilities of these applications and their response to a dynamic environment.

Other organizations participating in the prime contract between DARPA and the University of Kansas Center for Research Inc. are the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (Reston, VA) and Minnesota Supercomputer Center Inc. (Minneapolis, MN). Additional organizations supported by DARPA for work on MAGIC-II are the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation Systems Data Center (Sioux Falls, SD) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, CA). Also contributing to the research are Sprint Corporation (Overland Park, KS), US WEST (Minneapolis, MN) and Splitrock Telecom (Garretson, SD).

SRI International is one of the nation's oldest and largest research, technology development and consulting firms. The MAGIC-II project will be conducted by SRI's Artificial Intelligence Center, a pioneer and major contributor to the development of computer capabilities such as natural language, perception, and representation and reasoning for intelligent behavior in complex situations. For more information on the Center visit the World Wide Web site at http://www.ai.sri.com, and for more information on MAGIC-II visit http://www.ai.sri.com/~magic/.