Academics: Aim and objectives for the course Top-level syllabus - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

COMPGV07 / M076 - Virtual

Environments - Module Logistics

Simon Julier Will Steptoe Department of Computer Science, UCL S.Julier@cs.ucl.ac.uk http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/teaching/VE

Overview

• Academics:

– Aim and objectives for the course – Top-level syllabus

• Logistics:

– The web pages and the mailing list – Coursework

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Aim and Objectives

• Aim:

– To gain an understanding of the core issues required to engineer effective virtual environments

• Objectives:

– Understand the concepts of immersion and presence – Understand the technology required – Understand the techniques used – Test these in your very own VE system

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Conduct of the Course

• Main lecturers:

– Simon Julier, Will Steptoe

• Lab Demonstrators:

– Will Steptoe, Aitor Rovira

• Supporting cast:

– David Swapp, others ...

• You will do another hour in the form of a

group seminar each week.

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Web Pages & Mailing List

• Main web page for the course is

– www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/teaching/VE – This has vital information – schedules, course notes, coursework, reading, etc.

• Module mailing list

– You must register for the mailing list

• It is the definitive record of all module instructions

– Send email to:

• MSc CGVI: gv07-request@cs.ucl.ac.uk
• 4th years: m076-request@cs.ucl.ac.uk

– Use subject ‘join’

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Top-Level Structure

• 1. System Architecture

(Simon)

• 2. Visual Feedback

(External / Will)

• 3. Presence and Place Illusion

(Mel Slater)

• 4. Tracking and Interaction

(Will)

• 5. Networking

(Simon)

• 6. Avatars

(Will)

• 7. Haptics and Audio

(Simon)

• 8. Mixed Reality

(Simon)

• 9. Design of Experiments

(Will)

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Course Assessment

• Coursework 30 %

– Two parts to coursework

• Your group seminar (30%)
• Your group programming coursework (70%)

– Groups for two parts need not be the same

• Written Exam 70%

– Answer 3 of 5 essay-type questions – Past papers up on the website for reference

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Group Seminars

• The seminars will be given in MPEB 1.04 on Fridays

11:00-12:00

• They will last for 35 minutes; 15 minutes for questions
• Everybody is expected to attend
• Marking:

– 40% presentation – 40% slides – 20% extra resources (videos, contemporary examples)

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Group Seminar Schedule

• Weeks 7-9 and 11-15
• Week 7 – Physics systems
• Week 8 – Stereo systems
• Week 9 – Tracking Technologies
• Week 11 – Network Scalability
• Week 12 – Human Factors
• Week 13 – Representing People
• Week 14 – Auditory and Haptic Systems
• Week 15 – Mixed and Augmented Reality
• Form your groups TODAY
• Topics in first-come, first-served order
• Order may change but only after week 9.

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Programming Coursework

• In groups of 3 people, you will develop an

immersive virtual environment experience

– The purpose of the application will be to train users in a particular skill – The application will run in the CAVE – It will be assessed by demonstration and a write-up

• Development platform:

– XVR (http://vrmedia.it/)

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Programming Coursework

• http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/teaching/VE/Coursework/cw2.html
• Video examples from last year:

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What’s Happening on Friday

• You will experience several demonstrations in UCL’s virtual

reality facility

• For each demonstration note the reasons why feeling happened

worked or didn’t.

– How much did I feel as if I had been in that place depicted by the virtual environment? – How much did I act there as if I was visiting such a place for real?

• Write an overall report
• http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/teaching/VE/Coursework/cw2.html
• Email it to Simon by the start of Week 7
• Groups will be allocated based on those subscribed to email

lists

– Should motivate you to sign up!

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Labs

• Labs will be run on Fridays 09:00-11:00
• Two venues:

– 4.17 (PC lab; tutorials) – Ground floor (test with CAVE and trackers)

• There will be tutorials in at least some weeks:

– Week 7: Introduction to 3DS Max / Blender – Week 8: Introduction to XVR

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Materials

• Recommended text:

Understanding Virtual Reality: Interface, Application, and Design, William R. Sherman, Alan B. Craig

• Other materials:

– Seminar presenters get copies of papers – All slides on web – Slides and your notes will suffice for revision

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Summary

www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/teaching/VE

Sign up for the mailing list!!!

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Programming Coursework

• The project will be

implemented in XVR

• This is a high-level

scripting environment (yet another language to learn)

• However, code written on

a laptop should “just work” in the CAVE

– Check that it does!

• (Unfortunately it only runs

in Windows)

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