1. Virtual Reality Systems CPSC 411/611 Course Introduction August 22, 2012

2. Welcome! My name is Dr. Sab Babu A bit about myself
Background
Interests

3. The Name game Pair up with someone you haven’t met before. Find:
Class Standing
Where were you before you came to CU?
Something interesting about them
Take 5 mins, and you will take turns to introduce them in class

4. Course Run-icity Ask questions, participation is required!!!
Cheating will not be tolerated. You cheat == no longer in class.
Attendance is mandatory
Very APPLIED (lots of projects). You will work hard.
Go over course syllabus in a minute

5. What’s this course about?
What is a Virtual Environment?
Computer generated environments
Virtual Reality
Augmented Reality
Immersive Environments
Mixed Reality
Learn what goes into VEs
Learn to make VEs
Building your own VE
What are the research areas in VEs?

6. What will we get to do?
Explore a new area of computer science research
Q: How old is VR and who is the ‘father’ of VR?
A: 1965, Ivan Sutherland (The Ultimate Display, first reading)
What is unique about the picture?
What does having the head device get you?
Build your own environments
Build your own interfaces
Develop a significant group final project
Do things that have never been done before!

7. Course Outline Build Basic VR walkthrough Build Basic AR
Background and history of VR
Software
Hardware
Design
Interaction (Wiiii!)
Research Issues
Build Basic VR walkthrough
Build Basic AR

8. OpenSceneGraph Open Source Library with a Scene Graph
Rendering, Animation, Object hierarchy
Creating a Joystick enabled virtual walkthrough

9. AR ToolKit/osgART Open Source library University of Washington HITLAB
You will building a AR environments with ARToolKit

10. Pre-Requisites Proficient in programming (C/C++)
Programming must not be an obstacle
Must be familiar with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/2010
General technical background
Algorithms and Data Structures
Familiar with computer graphics is a plus. However, you can still take this course without a lot of graphics knowledge.

11. Pre-Requisites Please drop on by if you have any questions/concerns
You will have to invest in some tools of the trade
Joysticks/gamepad
Earphones, microphone, etc.
No Slackers allowed…
those in search of an easy ‘A’ drop now!
those in search of a rewarding challenge stick around!

12. Why should I take this course?
An excuse to build that VR program/game/3D project you always wanted
A Computer Science course that involves a variety of skills (other than coding!)
Art
Psychology
Sound
Creativity
To play with fun toys
To show off your projects!
End of the semester final projects (potential advisors!)

13. Syllabus

14. Discussion Topic Let’s design the ultimate VR system.
What are the issues to consider?
Which senses do we want to provide sensory input to?
How would you engineer this?
How much would it cost?
What is possible today, what needs to be invented?
What is the best virtual reality experience available today?

15. Readings Chapter 1 – Introduction
"The Ultimate Display," Sutherland, I.E., Proceedings of IFIPS Congress 1965, New York, New York, May 1965, Vol. 2, pp
"A Head-Mounted Three-Dimensional Display," Sutherland, I.E., AFIPS Conference Proceedings, Vol. 33, Part I, 1968, pp

16. Background Survey: Name: Class standing:
What aspect of project development are you most interested in? (System development, 3D modeling, 3D UI development)
What are your strengths? (Familiarity with open source graphics/VE frameworks, modeling tools, etc.)
What would you like to learn? (Opportunity to learn modeling, system programming, UI design etc…)
Briefly describe any current VR project your are working on?
Or, Why you are interested in VR?