Particle-Based Remote Visualization Applications: PBVR
(Particle-Based Volume Rendering)
Particle-Based Volume Rendering (PBVR) is a visualization method that converts volume data into grain data for visualization to generate volumetric images. PBVR, a remote visualization application using PBVR, converts particles into particles on a remote server or supercomputer, and transfers the compressed particle data for visualization to a PC at hand to generate images. PBVR has the following features:
Selection of remote visualization method
You can choose between Client Server (CS) visualization for visualizing volume data stored in remote storage, or In-Situ (IS) visualization for simultaneous, co-environment visualization of simulations. CS visualization supports a variety of data formats used in the fluids field, such as VTK, CGNS, and EnSight. Click here for more information on IS mode of PBVR.
Visualize large-scale data at high speed
The particle generation process on servers and supercomputers is optimized for parallel environments, and large volume data can be converted into particles for visualization in seconds. Particle data can be freely viewed, and can be rendered at an interactive frame rate using the GPU.
Visualization capabilities for multivariate data
Each variate of the volume data can be synthesized with an algebraic expression to define a new variable. In addition, functions that assign color and opacity to variables can be synthesized with algebraic expressions to design visualizations for multivariates.
Visualization of 3D point clouds
It is possible to visualize 3D point clouds acquired by photogrammetry and LiDAR. The 3D point cloud can be integrated with the volume data of the simulation results.
VR Visualization Capabilities
A head-mounted display (HMD) for VR visualization can be selected as the display device for VR visualization. Since this function is implemented using the HMD standard OpenXR, it works universally on various HMDs such as Meta Quest and HTC Vive.
Release Notes
PBVR 3.4.0 (2025/04/30)
PBVR version 3.4.0 is now available for download. This update includes the following feature additions and improvements.
- ・The following file formats can now be loaded and visualized directly, without the need for prior preprocessing.
- * VTK
- * EnSight Gold
- * CGNS
- * Plot3D
- * AVS
- * STL
- * KVSML
- ・The colormap and opacity editor has been redesigned, resulting in reduced memory usage during GUI startup.
Source code, manual, and binaries are available from GitHub.
https://github.com/CCSEPBVR/CS-IS-PBVR/tree/release_v3.4.0
PBVR 3.3.0 (2025/03/28)
PBVR 3.3.0 is available for download. This update adds the following features to PBVR
- ・ Plot Over Line: Displays a scalar value on a line segment connecting two user-specified points as a graph.
- ・ Glyph Display: Visualizes any three components of volume data as a vector field with arrow or diamond-shaped glyphs.
- ・ OpenFOAM support: In-Situ visualization (visualization simultaneously with computation) is available by inserting the ForamToPBVR adapter into OpenFOAM.
Source code, manual, and binaries are available from GitHub.
https://github.com/CCSEPBVR/CS-IS-PBVR/tree/release_v3.3.0
PBVR 3.2.0 (2024/11/12)
PBVR 3.2.0 is now available for download. This update allows the VR display feature to be used in both CS and IS remote visualization modes. Additionally, by implementing the OpenXR standard, widely used in HMDs, PBVR 3.2.0 operates universally across currently available HMDs. HMDs that have been confirmed to work are as follows.
- ・ Meta Quest2
- ・ Meta Ques3
- ・ VIVE Pro
- ・ VIVE Focus3
- ・ PICO4
The source code, manual, and binaries are available on github.
https://github.com/CCSEPBVR/CS-IS-PBVR/tree/release_v3.2.0
PBVR 3.1.0 (2024/10/7)
PBVR3.1.0 is available for download. In this update, the GUI of CS-PBVR and IS-PBVR has been unified, allowing users to select the communication mode (Client-Server or In-Situ) from the Connection panel. With this integration, the visualization features of CS-PBVR can now also be used in IS-PBVR.
The source code, manual, and binaries are available on github.
https://github.com/CCSEPBVR/CS-IS-PBVR/tree/release_v3.1.0
PBVR 3.0.0 (2024/09/18)
PBVR3.0.0 is available for download. In this update, the GUI of the CS-PBVR client program has been redesigned. In addition to the LAS format for 3D point cloud data, the PTS format is now supported. In addition, we have added a Merge panel function that allows you to freely add, display, and delete multiple volume data and point cloud data on the GUI.
The source code, manual, and binaries are available on github.
https://github.com/CCSEPBVR/CS-IS-PBVR/tree/release_v3.0.0
Multi location IS-PBVR 1.0.0 (2024/03/01)
Multi location IS-PBVR 1.0.0 (ML PBVR), which extends IS PBVR for remote collaborative visualization at multiple locations, is available for download. ML PBVR can visualize large-scale simulations on a remote supercomputer on a PC at the same time as calculations. The visualization can then be shared across multiple PCs connected to a supercomputer. ML PBVR is capable of VR visualization using HMD, and interactive analysis between users is possible by changing the visualization parameters by multiple users.
The source code is available on github.
https://github.com/CCSEPBVR/CS-IS-PBVR/tree/release_multi_location_pbvr_v1.0.0
VR CS-PBVR 2.2.1 (2023/11/29)
You can download the VR CS-PBVR, which enables VR visualization using the HMD as a display device for CS-PBVR.
The source code and manual are available on github.
https://github.com/CCSEPBVR/CS-IS-PBVR/tree/release_cs_is_pbvr_v2.2.1
IS PBVR 2.2.0 (2023/11/10)
IS-PBVR 2.2.0 is available for download. In this version, it is now possible to add textured polygon data and 3D point clouds (LAS format) from the IS PBVR client program for integrated display.
The source code is available on github.
https://github.com/CCSEPBVR/CS-IS-PBVR/tree/release_cs_is_pbvr_v2.2.0
Binary and Sample Data
The binary and sample data are released from github.
https://github.com/CCSEPBVR/CS-IS-PBVR/releases
And 10 steps air flow simulation result data are available from below link.
Download
Previous Versions of IS-PBVR
https://ccse.jaea.go.jp/software/In-Situ_PBVR/binary/in-situ_binary.html
developer
Advanced Computer Technology Development Office, Center for Systems and Computational Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency
連絡先
ccse-quad(at)ml.jaea.go.jp
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