From: dgomez@caip.rutgers.edu (Daniel Gomez) Subject: EDUC: RUTGERS UNIVERSITY - VR Graduate Course (Spring '96) Date: 16 Jan 1996 14:27:59 -0500 Message-ID: <4dgu7v$2gf@tekka.rutgers.edu> Organization: Rutgers University RUTGERS UNIVERSITY The State University of New Jersey College of Engineering Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Virtual Reality Technology Index: 72953, T,Th 4:30-5:50, SEC 203. Spring 1996 Prerequisites: 330:560 Computer Graphics. 330:352 undergraduate level computer hardware course Course Outline (Weekly topics) INTRODUCTION. What Is Virtual Reality? The Three ``I"s Of Virtual Reality. A Short History Of Virtual Reality. Towards Commercialization. (Chapter 1) VIRTUAL REALITY TOOLS - I. 3-D Position Sensors. 3-D Magnetic Sensors. Ultrasound 3-D Sensors. Trackballs. 3-D Probes. Sensing Gloves. The DataGlove; The CyberGlove; The PowerGlove; The Dextrous Hand Master; (Chapter 2) VIRTUAL REALITY TOOLS - II. 3-D Position Sensors. 3-D Magnetic Sensors. Stereo Viewing Devices. Human Eye Stereo Viewing; Head Mounted Displays; LCD-based HMDs; CRT-based HMDs; Binocular Omni-Orientation Monitors (Booms); The ``Cyberscope"; Stereo Glasses; Stereo Projection Screens; Autostereoscopic 3-D Displays. 3-D Sound Generators; Human Hearing Model; The Convolvotron; The Beachtron And The Acoustetron. Conclusion. (Chapter 2) TOUCH AND FORCE FEEDBACK. Touch Feedback Is Different From Force Feedback. Virtual Touch/Force-Feedback Requirements. Touch Feedback. Pneumatic Touch Feedback; Vibrotactile Feedback; Enhanced Tactile Feedback; Force Feedback. Force-Feedback Arms; Joysticks; ``Enhanced" Joysticks; Portable Masters; The Rutgers Portable Master With Force Feedback; The LRP Hand Master; The ``SAFIRE" And The ``Force ArmMaster"; Combining Force And Touch Feedback. Conclusion. (Chapter 3) COMPUTING ARCHITECTURES. Frame Rate Vs. Computational Load. Graphics Performance Vs. Shading Mode. Graphics Performance Vs. Scene Complexity. PC-Based VR Engine. 486-PC With ActionMedia Graphics Accelerators; 486-PC With Spea ``Fire" Graphic Accelerators; Other PC-Based Graphic Accelerators. Workstation-Based Architectures. The ``Virtual Holographic Workstation; The Provision 100 Workstation. Highly Parallel VR Engines. Distributed VR. Supercomputer-Based Systems; IBM Distributed System; Distributed Force Feedback; Two-User Systems. Conclusion. (Chapter 4) MODELING - I. Geometric Modeling. Object Shape; Object Appearance; Kinematic Modeling. Object Position. Collision Detection; Flying, Grabbing And Scaling; Object Hierarchies; Viewing The 3-D World; Physical Modeling. Weight Modeling. Surface Deformation And Compliance; Surface Smoothness; (Chapter 5) MODELING - II. Object Behavior. Model Segmentation. Cell Segmentation; Level Of Detail Segmentation; Conclusion. (Chapter 5) PROGRAMMING IN VR - I. The VR Editor. RenderWare; The VRT3 Editor. The Amaze Editor. The Resident Modeler. Event Scheduling. Real-time Distributed Simulation. Task Decomposition; (Chapter 6) PROGRAMMING IN VR - II. Actors; The Hierarchy Element. The Shared Data Space; Graphical Programming. Non-Commercial VR Toolkits. Conclusion. (Chapter 6) HUMAN FACTORS IN VR. Evaluation Difficulties. VR Evaluation Methodology. Control (Feedback); Vision And Graphics Feedback; Influence Of The Image Refresh Rate; Depth Perception; Color Discrimination; Passive Vision; Active Vision; Enhanced Vision; Audio Feedback; Force And Tactile (Haptic) Feedback; Evaluation Of Sensing Gloves With Haptic Feedback; Evaluation Of Integrated Systems; ``Hand-Hand Coordination"; ``Hand-Eye" Coordination With Haptic Feedback; ``Hand-Ear" Coordination; ``Voice-Ear" And ``Voice-Eye" Coordination; ``Multimodal" Coordination; Simulation Sickness. Conclusion. (Chapter 7) APPLICATIONS - I. Medicine and Rehabilitation. Surgery; VR Anatomy Trainer; Surgical Simulators; Telesurgery; Hybrid Systems; Rehabilitation; Hand Diagnostic; Body Rehabilitation; Improving Quality Of Life For The Disabled; Biotechnology; (Chapter 8) APPLICATIONS - II. Entertainment, Arts and Education. Entertainment applications; VR Arcades; Home-based VR Entertainment; The Arts; Videoplace; Mandala; Virtual Actors; The Virtual Museum; Virtual Music; Education; Military and Aerospace. Military Applications; The SIMNET tank trainer network; Antisubmarine Warfare; The Virtual Stinger Trainer; Aerospace Applications; The NASA Virtual Reality Training; The European Space Agency; The Virtual Cockpit; (Chapter 8) APPLICATIONS - III. Business Applications. Finance; The Maxus Stock Trading Interface; Currency Exchange Visualization; Experiential Advertising; Interior Design; Robotics and Manufacturing. VR Applications in Robotics; Aid in Robot Design; Navigation in Unstructured Environments; Off-line Programming; Teleoperation; Manufacturing; Conclusion. (Chapter 8) THE FUTURE . Large Volume Tracking. New Displays. New Haptic Displays. Neural Interfaces. ``Image Gloves". Voice Control. Portable Computers. Programming and Modeling. Conclusion. (Chapter 9) Final . Text Grigore Burdea and Philippe Coiffet, Virtual Reality Technology , John Wiley & Sons, 400 pp, 23 color plates, 212 drawings and tables, ISBN 0-471-08632-0 (Cloth) 1994. Reference Materials Kalawsky, R., 1993, The Science of Virtual Reality and Virtual Environments , Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., UK, 405 pp., or subsequent editions. Pimentel, K. and K. Teixeira, 1993, Virtual Reality: Through the New Looking Glass , Windcrest McGraw-Hill, New York, 301 pp., or subsequent editions. Grading Criteria There will be laboratory projects and a final examination. These will be weighted as follows: Laboratory project 50% Final exam 50% ***************** INFORMATION ****************** ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING New Brunswick, Electrical Engineering Bldg., BC Telephone Numbers: (908) 445 4880 445 5393 445-4208 see also: http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/vrlab/index.html