Anna Cyganowski RCOS Intro Presentation March 5, 2010
MateriaLab: Why? Few educational games available for high school and college students Can introduce abstract STEM concepts Give students intuitive sense for difficult ideas
MateriaLab: What? Interactive introduction to materials science Structures, properties, processing Explore virtual IC fabrication facility Go through entire process Learn key concepts such as crystal structure and diffusion To enter next level, players must solve puzzle
MateriaLab: How? Unity 3D game engine Closed source, free basic version Supports C#, Javascript, and Boo (Python dialect) Blender 3D Modeling, rendering, animation
Why Unity 3D? Future contributors likely to be beginners Active online community Well written documentation Used in previous open source games SARGE (Search and Rescue Game Environment) Cassie 3D by NASA JPL
Current Progress Underestimated amount of necessary prep time Built practice game by following Unity tutorials Learned way around Blender interface Designed first game level – focus on structures of materials
Semester Milestones Milestone 2: Info Zoom March 28, 2010 Milestone 1: Lab Table March 14, 2010
Semester Milestones Milestone 3: Extracting Unit Cell April 11, 2010 Milestone 4: Moving Unit Cell April 25, 2010
Semester Milestones Milestone 5: Analyze Expanded Unit Cell May 2, 2010 Milestone 6: Testing & Release May 14, 2010 Seeking input from: RPI students MTLE professor(s) Educational game designers from NYU ITP
Questions?