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Presence Examples From The (Baton Rouge, LA) Advocate Blanco: LITE a shining example of progress By KEVIN BLANCHARD LAFAYETTE -- When the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise opens next year, it will be another building block in Louisiana's emergence as a technology leader, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday. LITE will host the first six-sided digital virtual reality cube in the world along with one of the fastest-available supercomputers. The visualization technology will allow researchers, both public and private, to crunch complicated data into 3-dimensional models they can get inside and manipulate in a way never before possible. The research and application development made possible by LITE is expected to touch many different disciplines and industries, including oil and gas, medicine and software. LITE, coupled with state efforts to connect all universities with an ultra-high-speed fiber-optics backbone across the state and country, is another example of what Louisiana is doing right, Blanco said. "It's going to set the stage for some pretty wonderful things in Louisiana for the coming years," the governor said. Blanco was one of several public officials and business leaders to attend the official groundbreaking of the $20 million facility -- a joint project of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Lafayette Economic Development Authority. While some private companies -- and a handful of universities -- have built and operated similar visualization centers, the LITE will be unique in both its latest and greatest technology and the possibilities for economic development, since private companies can have access, authority officials have said. "I wanted business to connect more closely with the universities," Blanco said. Several companies have already signed up to partner with LITE, authority President Gregg Gothreaux said, including Merlin Oil and Gas, C.H. Fenstermaker and Associates, Stone Energy, Global Data Systems, Christie Digital and James River Technical. David Welch of Stone Energy said he had the opportunity to work with a visualization center owned by British Petroleum a few years ago. A task involving a multibillion-dollar project, which would normally take up to a year, was finished in two days using the visual immersion, Welch said. ULL President Ray Authement said having LITE connected to the $40 million Louisiana Optical Network Initiative and the National Lambda Rail -- both networks built from high-speed fiber-optics -- is a "giant step forward." Blanco said Louisiana had to fight to be included on the Lambda Rail project. "We had to invite ourselves," she said. That connection will enable researchers and businesses here to contribute to "unimagined business opportunities and science discoveries," Blanco said. The LITE will be located near the Cajundome, across the street from authority headquarters on Devalcourt Drive. While construction is not scheduled to end until early next year, technology contractor Silicon Graphic Inc. will move the supercomputers that will power the center into a building across the street so training can begin, Gothreaux said. Besides the one-of-a-kind 3-D immersive cube, the LITE will also host the world's largest 3-D immersive auditorium, with 175 seats; a 30-seat immersive collaboration teleconference room; and a long list of computer and networking equipment.
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