Download Position Information

Smart Services CRC
Vacation Scholarship Flyer
ABOUT US
The Smart Services CRC is a $120m, commercially focused collaborative research initiative, developing
innovation, foresight and productivity improvements for the services sector. Services is the largest sector of the
economy representing approximately 80% of Australia’s GDP and 85% of employment. Within the services
industries Smart Services’ initial programmes will be customer-focused with outcomes translatable across the
whole services sector. Initial research outcomes and demonstrators will principally be associated with the digital
media, finance and government sectors (including the health sector) to develop exciting new capabilities and
demonstrate the breadth of the applicability of our work.
Smart Services is a research and development partnership between six major industry players and six Australian
universities, funded by the private sector and governments under the Australian Government’s Cooperative
Research Centre program. Its aim is the creation of research-enabled commercial outcomes for its partners.
Major investors and partners include Fairfax Digital, Infosys, RACQ, Suncorp-Metway, AARNet, Austin Health, the
NSW and Queensland State Governments, Queensland University of Technology, the Royal Melbourne Institute
of Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, University of New South Wales, University of Sydney, and
University of Wollongong.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR SCHOLARSHIPS
Successful applicants will receive a stipend of $450 per week (tax free) for a period of 12 weeks between
November 2010 and February 2011. Smart Services CRC Summer Scholarships applications are open to:
1. Full-time Bachelor of Engineering (or related discipline) students from any Australian university. Students
must be preparing to enter their final year of study in 2011.
2. Full-time Postgraduate Engineering (or related discipline) students must be currently enrolled in RMIT
University.
*Successful applicants will be required to provide their own transportation to and from the School for the 12
week period of work.
2010-2011 SUMMER PROJECTS
Intended research for Smart Services CRC Summer Scholarships must be in one of the two following topics:
1. 3D Animation with Augmented Reality
Augmented reality refers to technology that combines 'real' and 'virtual' by overlaying computer-generated
objects on real-life objects/environments in real-time to enable virtual interaction and provide enhanced user
experiences. Examples include augmented map interfaces on mobile devices with compasses or information
about the locale (e.g., traffic information), rendering interactive virtual 3D displays in museums, or products in
3D for customer interaction via a webcam.
The student may choose to develop software for one of the following applications:
•augment the illustrations in a picture book when the user holds the book up to a webcam. Objects in the book
illustrations are rendered into 3D overlaid on the book onscreen, with motion tracking of the objects to 'stick' the
objects to the book.
•augment the images/photos in a newspaper into videos when the user holds the newspaper up to a webcam.
Objects in the image and keywords in the article text are recognised to overlay a relevant news video on the
newspaper onscreen, with motion tracking of the image to 'stick' the video onscreen.
Please note that strong software skills are required for this project, and the student may choose whether to
develop a standalone C/C++ application or web-based interface.
Smart Services CRC
Vacation Scholarship Flyer
2. Immersive Ambient Sensory Multimedia Web Experiences
Multimedia experiences on the web are becoming increasingly complex yet the user is still limited to interacting
via audio/visual means. Multimedia content such as videos, games, virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life) offer rich
media content that can utilised to provide more realistic user experiences e.g., creating rumble feedback during
a movie action scene or wind when flying in Second Life. This project thus investigates the use of extra sensory
dimensions ('sensory surround') to improve users' multimedia experiences through light, sound, vibration and
wind effects.
The Philip's amBX kit, which consists of wall washer LED lights, 2.1 speaker system with LED lights, wrist
vibration and two fans, will be used in this project. Students will interface the ambX hardware to media software
using the amBX Software Development Kit (SDK), which includes the C API. Developers have already created
amBX plug-ins for various media players such as Windows Media Player, Foobar and VLC, but there has been
little work integrating amBX with web content. This project will thus enhance web media content using amBX
technology, and will require strong software skills to work with the amBX SDK in addition to the development of
algorithms to derive appropriate sensory feedback based on the media content.
APPLICATION PROCESS
If you wish to apply, please complete the Vacation Scholarship Application Form and attach the following:
 Your Curriculum Vitae
 Copies of academic records or transcripts
Please submit your application and additional documentation to the Smart Services Scholarships contact at
RMIT University:
Prof. Ian Burnett
Head of School
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
RMIT University
E: [email protected]