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Interactive Computer Graphics,
Human Computer Interaction,
Virtual Reality
and
Digital Arts and Sciences
Benjamin Lok
September 20th, 2004
Outline

Topics
• Interactive Computer Graphics
• Human Computer Interaction
• Virtual Reality
Jobs
 Research
 Skills

Interactive Computer Graphics
Computer Graphics
Graphics Design
Adobe
Photoshop
3D Graphics
Web Design
Real-Time
Applications
Video Games
Research
Data
Visualization
Flight
Simulators
Non Real-Time
Virtual
Reality
Scientific
Visualization
TV
Logos
Movie
Special Effects
Animation
Motivation

We want to understand how to do:
Motivation
Why should I take this course?


An excuse to build that
program/game/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!
Human Computer Interaction

What is a user interface?
Why do we care about design?

We see this all the time.

• What’s good about the design of this error box?

The user knows there is an error
• What’s poor about the design of this error box?



Discouraging
Not enough information
No way to resolve the problem (instructions or contact
info)
My Choice


iPod by Apple
Computers
Pros:
•
•
•
•

portable
power
ease of use
# of controls
Cons:
• scratches easily
• no speech for car
use
• proprietary
HCI Community

Academics/Industry
Research
• Taxonomies
• Theories
• Predictive models

Experimenters
• Empirical data
• Product design

Other areas
(Sociologists,
anthropologists,
managers)
•
•
•
•
Motor
Perceptual
Cognitive
Social, economic, ethics
HCI Tools





Sound
3D
Animation
Video
Devices
• Size (small->very large)
• Portable (PDA, phone)
• Plasticity



Context
sensitive/aware
Personalizable
Ubiquitous
Usability Requirements

Goals:
• Usability
• Universality
• Usefulness

Achieved by:
• Planning
• Sensitivity to user
needs
• Devotion to
requirements
analysis
• Testing
Bad Interfaces





Encumbering
Confusing
Slow
Trust (ex. windows
crashing)
What makes it hard?
• Varies by culture
• Multiple platforms
• Variety of users

Think of a game
you’ve played with a
bad interface
• UNIX
Example

Five fastest places to click on for a
right-handed user?
Example

What affects time?
Virtual Reality Definition

What is virtual reality?
• Virtual –
Being in essence or effect, but not in fact
 Example VRAM

• Reality –

The state or quality of being real.
Something that exists independently of
ideas concerning it. Something that
constitutes a real or actual thing as
distinguished from something that is merely
apparent.”
• What was the first VR?
What was the first VR?
Ivan Sutherland’s
The Ultimate Display
“Don’t think of that thing as
a screen, think of it as a
window, a window
through which one looks
into a virtual world. The
challenge to computer
graphics is to make that
virtual world look real,
sound real, move and
respond to interaction in
real time, and even feel
real.”
Key Elements of Virtual Reality
Experience

Virtual World - content of a given
medium
• screen play, script, etc.
• actors performing the play allows us to
experience the virtual world

Immersion – sensation of being in an
environment
• mental immersion – suspension of
disbelief
• physical immersion – bodily entering
the medium
• Related to presence – (mentally
immersed) the participant’s sensation
of being in the virtual environment
(Slater)
Walking Experiment at
UNC – Chapel Hill
Augmented Reality
A combination of a
real scene viewed
by a user and a
virtual scene
generated by a
computer that
augments the
scene with
additional
information.
All Virtual Objects

Ultrasound Visualization Research at
UNC – Chapel Hill
All Real Objects
Immersive Technology

Head-mounted
Display
• Optical System
• Image Source (CRT
or LCD)
• Mounting Apparatus
• Earphones
• Position Tracker
Immersive Technology

Multi-screen Projection
of stereoscopic images
(CAVE)
Immersive Technology

Single large
stereoscopic
display
• Projection-based
• Head-tracked
• Possible tracking of
hands and arms.
• Brings virtual
objects into the
physical world
User’s perspective




Setting
Objects in world
Other participants
Active/Passive
• Factory Simulation
• Architectural
Walkthrough
Research

Virtual Characters
• Diana Video

Virtual Reality
• NASA
Skill Set

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
“Oh I don’t want to program, I just want to
create stuff”
Architect or Car analogy
Programming -> tool to create what is in your
imagination
Programming proficiency goal: be able to
code anything that you imagine
To do what you saw before we use:
• C/C++, OpenGL, many different libraries

Math, math, and yet more math!!!
• Differential equations (simulations, physics engines),
linear algebra (transforms, 3D manipulations), statistics
Graduate School

Programming Team Lead at RockStar Games
• Worked on Midnight Club 2

Renderman Developer at Pixar
• Worked on the Jellyfish of Nemo and Incredibles

Software Engineer for Interactive Media for Disney
• Worked on Toon Town, online capable titles


Worked at 989 Sports, EA Sports, Freedom Force, etc.
What did they all have in common?
• Published scientific journals in computer science
• Graduate school in computer science
• Worked on efficient collision detection, particle systems,
curved surfaces, virtual reality, etc.
• All had



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GRE scores in the top 10%
Went to a top graduate school (admission is tough)
Strong math and science and coding
Why would a CS professor want to work with you?
Interested? Take the following…
Computational Structures in
Computer Graphics
 Design and Creation of Virtual
Environments
 Human-Computer Interaction
 Computational Geometry
 Computer Simulation Concepts
