MV3922 Introduction to Virtual Environment Technology

This course is an introduction to the technology used in virtual environments and discusses applications which use Virtual Environments. It is intended to give the students an introduction to the items they are likely to use throughout the master's degree program in Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation (MOVES). Graded Pass/Fail basis only.

Prerequisite

MV2921

Lecture Hours

Lab Hours

Statement Of Course Objectives

Course Learning Outcomes

Virtual Environments Technology: Definition & History

Student will be able to describe and discuss the basic characteristics of the interactive virtual environments (VEs)
Student will be able to describe and critique the most prominent examples of technologies used for the VR experiences in the past.
Student will be able to differentiate between on-demand and persistent VR worlds
Student will be able to describe and discuss the characteristics of Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVEs)
Student will be able to recognize and give examples of VEs, including the devices commonly used in those systems
Student will be able to examine the advantages that VE technology brings to the military domain
Student will be able to outline the domains that could benefit the most from the use of VEs

Virtual Environments Architecture and Applications

Student will be able to distinguish the architectural patter and system architecture.
Student will be able to describe the elements of a typical system architecture for Virtual Environments (VEs).
Student will be able to describe and discuss the elements of the Model-Viewer-Controller design pattern for the graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and explain them on several examples of VE system architectures.
Student will be able to discuss a variety of application domains that use VEs and explain the benefits those systems bring to each domain (industry, science, education, medicine, military, police, entertainment and art)

Input and Output Devices

Student will be able to distinguish between interaction and interaction technique in human-computer systems
Student will be able to describe three types of user tasks in VEs
Student will be able to discuss examples of technologies used for user tracking in VEs (head/body/hand/face/eye tracking), and explain why a particular application and its VE would need a specific form of user tracking.
Student will be able to differentiate between passive and active haptic displays and identify the applications that would benefit from using either form of haptic devices.
Student will be able to categorize and discuss a range of visual display solutions used to support VR experiences, and identify the applications that would benefit from using different types of visual displays.
Student will be able to describe the use of olfactory displays in different domains, including military training.
Student will be able to explain the characteristics of 3D audio and reflect on the use of 3D audio in different applications, including military applications.

Software Platforms and 3D Models

Student will be able to discuss the types of software platforms used for VEs and reflect on benefits and drawbacks associated with that each platform.
Student will be able to explain the use of 3D object models and different data format that are typically sed in VEs.

Human Factor Issues in Virtual Environments

Student will be able to discuss the role of human factors (HF) and areas of HF research in VEs.
Student will be able to reflect on interdisciplinary nature of HF domain.
Student will be able to describe and discuss definition of HF (DID definition and definition used in scientific literature)
Student will be able to discuss the characteristics of HF domain and areas of HF research interest.
Student will be able to examine and discuss HF issues on example research efforts conducted in military domain (MOVES student thesis)

Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, LVC, 360 Videos

Student will be able to describe the concept of virtuality continuum.
Student will be able to distinguish between virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), extended reality (XR), live-virtual-constructive (LVC), and 360 videos.
Student will be able to explain different types of VR and AR display technologies, and discuss the benefits and drawback of those technologies in the light of specific user tasks and applications.