tying molecular knots in virtual reality

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Over the past few months, I’ve been playing with a new integrated hardware-software framework that fuses the latest in interactive high-performance computing, the latest in virtual reality, and the latest in research-grade GPU-accelerated molecular physics. It’s really fun, and I’m basically addicted. Since we got it working, I’ve had a steady stream of colleagues knocking on my office door asking me if they can try it out. It’s slightly annoying, because I had intended to be ultra-productive during the summer lull in the academic calendar, but that has hasn’t really worked out… When my colleagues aren’t playing with it, then I’ve struggled to get much work done because I’ve mostly spent time hanging out in VR playing with my favourite molecular simulations…
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Making Sacred Space in the Smokies

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the smoky mtns
the divine mother
shrine builders: Gene, Taylor, Dave, Justin, Dave, and Lloyd
dave & gene planning the shrine design
getting stone at the stoneyard
filling backpacks with stone to haul up the mtn.
filling backpacks with stone to haul up the mtn.
filling backpacks with stone to haul up the mtn.
hauling stone up the mtn.
hauling stone up the mtn.
building the foundation
building the foundation
the first few altar stones laid on the finished concrete foundation
two rows into altar construction
filling the nearly finished altar with holy icons
filling the altar with holy icons
holy icons inside the altar
holy icons inside the altar
holy icons inside the altar
the altar is capped
making the arch scaffold
making the arch scaffold
installing the arch scaffold
building the arch
building the arch
building the arch
building the arch
building the arch
the arch nears completion
the arch nears completion
the arch nears completion
preparing to remove scaffold
preparing to remove scaffold
the free-standing stone arch
the free-standing stone arch
night-time installation of the holy mother
candlelight vigil & prayers
candlelight vigil & prayers
candlelight vigil & prayers
the holy mother in the light of dawn
the holy mother in the light of dawn

For a week during August, I spent time in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, building a stone shrine to house a statue of the Divine Mother. The shrine was constructed at the top of a small mountain, on land looked after by the Milarepa Osel Cho Dzong retreat center, using a statue donated by Joe Wall, and labor/resources contributed by a team that came from all over the world.
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