1. Richard M. Levy, Ph.D.,AIA,AACIP,MCIP Professor of Urban Planning
Faculty of Environmental Design
University of Calgary
2500 University Dr. NW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4

2. Virtual Environments
Training
Virtual Luge and Bobsled
Teaching
Virtual World for Teaching German
Interactive Design Review
STARS
Virtual Hospital Room
Sunnyside/Hillhurst ARP, City of Calgay
3D Imagining
Archaeological Reconstruction
Thule Whalebone House
Architectural Preservation and Design
First United Central Church

3. Interactive DesignSessions: Client: STARS’ Agusta Westland 139
Interior Layout
Design Review with Staff
Forutne March 20, 2000 p. 224

4. Interactive DesignSessions: Client: STARS’ Agusta Westland 139
Interior Layout
Design Review with Staff
Forutne March 20, 2000 p. 224

5. 3D Computer Study Model: Hillhurst/Sunnyside
Ultimate Purpose
Hillhurst/Sunnyside: To prepare land use and urban design options to optimize redevelopment opportunities for medium to high density mixed use development in strategic locations within the study area boundaries. Variations in build-out densities and built form should be explored.
West LRT Line:To develop a high level land use structure and urban design strategy . identify pedestrian-oriented areas, auto-oriented areas and transition areas; establish design principles for public systems and urban design. (TOD Charettes – Draft Detailed Agenda V1.4)
Richard M. Levy, Ph.D. MCIP

6. 3D Computer Study Model: Hillhurst/Sunnyside
Photo Computer Model
Richard M. Levy, Ph.D. MCIP

7. 3D Computer Study Model: Hillhurst/Sunnyside
2007 Current Development

8. 3D Computer Study Model: Hillhurst/Sunnyside
2007 Proposed Zoning: Tower Solution

9. Virtual Cities Project
Denis Gadbois
Richard Levy
Mathew Tait
St. Mary’s School, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

10. St Mary’s School

11. Central United Church, Calgary
Photo
Richard M. Levy, PhD, MCIP, AIA

12. Central United Church, Calgary
Computer Model
Richard M. Levy, PhD, MCIP, AIA

13. Central United Church, Calgary
Richard M. Levy, PhD, MCIP, AIA

14. Central United Church, Calgary
Computer Model
Richard M. Levy, PhD, MCIP, AIA

15. Central United Church, Calgary
Computer Model: 3D Studio
Richard M. Levy, PhD, MCIP, AIA

16. Central United Church, Calgary
Section Mode: Detail
Architect’s Model Inside 3D Studio MAX Model: Current
Richard M. Levy, PhD, MCIP, AIA

17. Central United Church, Calgary
Section Mode: Detail
Architect’s Model Inside 3D Studio MAX Model: Proposed
Richard M. Levy, PhD, MCIP, AIA

18. Richard Michael Levy, Ph.D. Faculty of Environmental Design
University of Calgary
Mary Grantham O’Brien, Ph.D.
Department of Germanic, Slavic & East Asian Studies

19. Instructional Questions:
Value as a self paced instructional environment for teaching foreign languages?
Value of as a virtual environment for learning about a foreign culture?
Which display format and teaching environment is most beneficial?
Learner autonomy is central. Students’ language skills and linguistic awareness are “supported through interaction, collaboration, and critical reflection” (Schweinhorst 2002)

20. Differences in response by gender
Game Development
Differences in response by gender
Difference in response by the level of gaming experience
Do gamers do better?
What is the expectation of the students in using a virtual world for language instruction?
How is wayfinding a factor in worlds where the architectural environment are built to scale?
Game space vs. architectural space impact of game play
Strategies for teachers to use games in the classroom
Platform Differences
Learner autonomy is central. Students’ language skills and linguistic awareness are “supported through interaction, collaboration, and critical reflection” (Schweinhorst 2002)

21. World: Salzburg/Vienna Story Line Finding Laura, the mayor’s daughter
Interactions and clues
Spoken commands
Written commands
Conversations between characters
Radio and TV broadcasts
Public and cell phone messages
Signs
Experience urban life
Scale: experience of the pedestrian
Introduction to sights and sounds of an Austrian City
Adataptable to future scenarios
Learner autonomy is central. Students’ language skills and linguistic awareness are “supported through interaction, collaboration, and critical reflection” (Schweinhorst 2002)

22. Game space vs. architectural space impact of game play
Random walk in game space
Getting lost is easy in a real city
Learner autonomy is central. Students’ language skills and linguistic awareness are “supported through interaction, collaboration, and critical reflection” (Schweinhorst 2002)
Hillier, B. (2005) The art of place and the science of space. World Architecture, 185. pp.  ISSN
PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader or other PDF viewer.
Abstract
Cities are large physical objects animated and driven by human behavior. How do the two connect? How do cities come into existence emerging from centuries of human activity as a well-ordered system? And how do they work to relate the physical patterning to the economic, social and cognitive life of humans who inhabit it? The fact that cities exist and function as physical wholes at the local scale, but are experienced a bit at a time at another, seems to trap us between an objectivist and rather abstracted view of the city as a whole and a subjectivist and phenomenological view of its parts. This paper aims to build up a theory of the city-creating process through the space syntax approach to overcome these two polarisations. The standing point is it treats cities as spatial networks and regards space as the common medium of the physical city and the experiential city, as well as of the socio-economic city and the cognitive city. So seen spatially, the physical city and the experiential city seem to merge into one. How should we talk about cities as space then? I will first explain my approach to space- the space syntax approach and how it has come to be used in research and design, both as a method and as a theory of space. Secondly, I will then show how we can use the method and the theory to bring to light certain key features of how human beings understand, experience and manipulate space. Armed with a theory of space itself, and a theory of the human understanding of space, a theory of the city-creating process in two stages will be outlined. One is a theory of how characteristically urban patterns of space are created by the aggregation of built forms and objects; the other is how collections of buildings become living cities by shaping human activity in them. In conclusion, it is argued that cities are human products in a very strong sense. In their very form and function they reflect ehat we are and how we can be. Perhaps this is why cities are the greatest artefact.
Type:
Article

23. Knight Elimar’s Last Joust: A Virtual Environment Game for Promoting Literacy Across the Curriculum
Objective: to enhance student acquisition of English language and literacy skills
Curriculum: Medieval Ages is a unit of study in Ontario, Canada, for grades 4 & 5
Game: Treasure Hunt
Students assume a virtual character
solve a mystery about a knight’s armor using a sequence of oral and written clues

25. Conclusions
RQ1: What role can serious games play in literacy skill acquisition?
Games can teach new words
Games can reinforce recall
Games can provide an opportunity to apply language skills acquired in class
RQ2: What role can serious games play in motivating students to learn?
Games can be used to motivate students
Games can be supportive in literacy skill acquisition
All groups were engaged in the activity, interested, motivated
RQ3: What expectations do students have in playing games in the classroom?
Serious connoisseurs of games demand quality, but are forgiving when it comes to educational games

26. Reconstruction of a Thule Whalebone House
Prof. Richard M. Levy, PhD
Faculty of Environmental Design
Prof. Peter Dawson, PhD
Department of Archaelogy
Identifying Non-Utilitarian Uses of Whalebone in Thule Inuit Architecture Using Computer Modeling.
The semi-subterranean whalebone house is one of the most distinctive
features of Thule Inuit culture in the Canadian Arctic, ca AD Whalebone served as an important raw material in arctic regions where driftwood was either absent or in short supply. Archaeologists have long suspected that that the roof frames of whalebone built by Thule peoples were designed to balance two tendencies: the need to construct stable structures, and the desire to communicate important symbolic information to their occupants. In this paper, we look for examples of non-utilitarian uses of whalebone using computer reconstructions of two Thule semisubterranean houses recorded on Bathurst Island, Nunavut. We evaluate the premise that comparative structural analysis can be used to differentiate structural from ceremonial uses of whalebone in Thule house design.

27. Introduction
In this project, Dr. Levy, in collaboration with Dr. Dawson, will make use of 3D computer visualization technology to create virtual world aimed at aiding students’ understanding of the complexity of artifacts and sites of the past. The use of 3D computer technology has some distinctive advantages over traditional 2D rendering techniques.
Hypothesis Testing - Computer models can be updated to reflect novel interpretations from existing archaeological data. In addition, these models can be updated, as new data is uncovered.
Multiple viewpoints - A single model can be used to generate views of an object from a multiplicity of viewpoints. Using a variety of rending techniques, objects can also be shown as wireframes, shaded and photorealism renderings.
Multimedia– Once a computer model is created it can be used as the basis for generating a variety of multimedia products including images, animations, QTVR movies, and virtual worlds.
Distribution – Virtual worlds and multimedia products can be distributed over the web to students anywhere in the world. In developing products for Internet delivery, media can be accommodated by both modem and high-speed cable.
Under this proposal Inuit and Thule culture would be explored within the context of a virtual world. These virtual reconstructions based on archaeological site investigations and would enable the audience to explore these arctic cultures from the past.
Identifying Non-Utilitarian Uses of Whalebone in Thule Inuit Architecture Using Computer Modeling.
The semi-subterranean whalebone house is one of the most distinctive
features of Thule Inuit culture in the Canadian Arctic, ca AD Whalebone served as an important raw material in arctic regions where driftwood was either absent or in short supply. Archaeologists have long suspected that that the roof frames of whalebone built by Thule peoples were designed to balance two tendencies: the need to construct stable structures, and the desire to communicate important symbolic information to their occupants. In this paper, we look for examples of non-utilitarian uses of whalebone using computer reconstructions of two Thule semisubterranean houses recorded on Bathurst Island, Nunavut. We evaluate the premise that comparative structural analysis can be used to differentiate structural from ceremonial uses of whalebone in Thule house design.

28. Research Teaching and Virtual Worlds Virtual Testing Education
Public access and virtual worlds
Conclusions
In conclusion, we have been able to demonstrate that it is possible to construct virtual models of traditional Inuit architecture, using archaeological, ethnohistoric and ethnographic data.
Furthermore, these models can serve as valuable visualization tools for both education and research.
The process of constructing the virtual Mackenzie Delta winter house reveals that the architecture of small scale societies can be quite complex; especially in environments like the Canadian arctic, where access to building materials is somewhat limited.
Our next project will be to construct a virtual model of a Thule Inuit whale bone house, using detailed architectural data collected by Dawson (2001).
Both of these models will provide educators with a new method of communicating archaeological data to Inuit communities across the north. In addition, they may also provide archaeologists with a powerful tool for examining patterning in artifact distributions, and exploring the sensual aspects of traditional Inuit architecture.
Deblicquy Site #4

29. Conclusions
In conclusion, we have been able to demonstrate that it is possible to construct virtual models of traditional Inuit architecture, using archaeological, ethnohistoric and ethnographic data.
Furthermore, these models can serve as valuable visualization tools for both education and research.
The process of constructing the virtual Mackenzie Delta winter house reveals that the architecture of small scale societies can be quite complex; especially in environments like the Canadian arctic, where access to building materials is somewhat limited.
Our next project will be to construct a virtual model of a Thule Inuit whale bone house, using detailed architectural data collected by Dawson (2001).
Both of these models will provide educators with a new method of communicating archaeological data to Inuit communities across the north. In addition, they may also provide archaeologists with a powerful tool for examining patterning in artifact distributions, and exploring the sensual aspects of traditional Inuit architecture.

30. Trial 5: Arching Mandible: Case 2
Mandibles based on actual site sizes
Trial 6

31. I Centre CAVE University of Calgary

32. Lighting Characteristics
Lighting Studies
This study demonstrates the need to understand the sensory ecology of past landscapes and buildings, and the different ratios of sensation that agents may have acquired by interacting with these environments.
Simulating The Behavior Of Light Inside Arctic Dwellings: Implications for Assessing The Role of Visual Perception in Task Performance.
World Archaeology 2006
Lighting Characteristics
House 8
Deflection
Deflection

33. Sport Technology
Training, Coaching and VR
Evaluation of virtual environments as practice environments
Bobsled, Luge, Skeleton
Memorizing the track
Development of tools for coaches
Practice environment for coaches and athletes
Role of multiple viewpoints in training
Experimentation with distributed environments
Practice prior to an event
The subjects selected for this experiment were volunteers attending the “The Olympic Oval Finale” held at the Calgary Olympic Oval, March 23-24, 2002.

34. Current Research
Test Model for calibrating the physics of the luge and bobsled simulation
Real World Testing Environment:
Simulation of a practice bobsled on the Ice House Track, Canadian Olympic Park, Calgary
The subjects selected for this experiment were volunteers attending the “The Olympic Oval Finale” held at the Calgary Olympic Oval, March 23-24, 2002.

35. Richard M. Levy, Ph.D.,AIA,AACIP,MCIP Professor of Urban Planning
Faculty of Environmental Design
University of Calgary
2500 University Dr. NW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4