Virtual Reality (VR) CSCI 4830/6830 Course Introduction Instructor: Dr. Kyle Johnsen

Course Notes Acknowledgement Some of the lecture notes are drawn from lecture notes created by: ◦ Dr. Benjamin Lok at the University of Florida ◦ Dr. Larry Hodges at Clemson University

What will you get to do? Learn about the history of VR and about contemporary VR Build your own VR experiences Build your own 3D user interfaces Do things that have never been done before Play with cool toys ◦ Head Mounted Displays, Tracking Systems, Stereoscopic Projection displays, Haptic Interfaces Build games Ivan Sutherland (The Father of VR 1965)

More Specifically (grading) 3 VR projects worth 80% of your grade ◦ Experience Building ◦ Experiences will incorporate VR input devices, virtual environment simulations, and VR output devices ◦ Projects are weighted more heavily towards the end of the course. Weekly word VR paper discussions worth 20% of your grade. ◦ A maximum of 5 may be online articles or reports on current VR technology ◦ I will grade these randomly. If you plagiarize, you will lose 10 points off your final grade. These should be your own words and your own thoughts. They will be graded for relevance to VR, insight, and accuracy. ◦ These should be uploaded to ELC. Please use PDF.

How can you get the most out of this class? Grad students – Use this class to enhance your existing research (there is nothing in CS that can’t be applied to a VR experience) Undergrad Students – Use the projects in this class as a showcase piece for potential employers / graduate school committees Have fun and be creative! Set a goal of what you want to achieve at the end of the course NOW!

No Textbook! Class Materials ◦ Research Papers ◦ Lecture Notes ◦ Sample programs

Instead … Required Hardware Options MS Kinect ($ ) Playstation Move ($100) Camera and Wand Navigation controller optional (no support yet) Wiimote + Motion Plus ($40) USB bluetooth adapter (ASUS USB-BT21 works $15) I’d probably choose the Move or Kinect. Both are good choices that present options for augmented reality and user tracking. All of these have PC Drivers and virtual reality network interfaces

The Virtual Experiences Laboratory Hardware (Driftmier Enginering Center Room 407b) Some PCs Head Mounted Displays Rear Projection Screens Stereoscopic (3D) monitors and projectors Magnetic Tracking System (Polhemus Fastrak) Passive Infrared Optical Tracking system Novint Falcon Haptic System 4 Moves, 4 Kinects, 2 Wiimotes

Required Software (for support) MS Windows 7 (Sorry Mac and Linux users … dual boot, not emulated) ◦ Install this today (MSDNAA) Visual Studio (2008 or 2010) ◦ Also available via MSDNAA ◦ Install this today

Other requirements This is a programming heavy class ◦ C/C++ ◦ It’s possible to use another language, but not recommended and unsupported (example programs given in C++) ◦ You can learn C++, if you know Java, pretty easily. Spend some time with a good introductory book. The concepts are the same, the implementation and syntax are different. Bring a laptop to class ◦ If you don’t have a laptop, work with someone who does

Software Libraries Ogre – Object-oriented Graphics Rendering Engine ◦ Performs rendering and animation of 3D scenes ◦ Native C++, wrappers and ports available in other languages (e.g. Java) ◦ Get started learning this NOW. VRPN – Virtual Reality Peripheral Network ◦ Used to interface with VR devices over the network or locally. Many devices provide VRPN interfaces. ◦ Available for Java, but more difficult.

Software Programs Google Sketchup ◦ Exporter for Ogre ◦ Library of 3D Objects Available Blender ◦ Exporter for Ogre ◦ Can be used to create more sophisticated 3D models and animation

Discussion Topic: What does virtual reality (VR) mean?

Modern Definition of VR: Virtuality Continuum Real EnvironmentVirtual Environment Augmented RealityMixed RealityVirtual RealityReality

VR in Hollywood Lawnmower man Star Trek Matrix Minority Report Avatar

What is the best (and most expensive) virtual reality technology available today? CAVE: CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment The Real State of the Art

Consumer VR Wiimote Playstation Move Novint Falcon Stereoscopic Displays ◦ Nvidia 3DVision, DLP-3D Microsoft’s Kinect

Final Words Please drop on by if you have any questions/concerns ◦ My office is 503 Driftmier Engineering Center ◦ My is No Slackers allowed… ◦ those in search of an easy ‘A’ drop now! ◦ those in search of a rewarding challenge stick around!