VR Design for Science: Calendar, Fall 2013

Note that the readings listed for each day should be read in preparation for that day's class meeting. That means that you should look ahead each week to the next class and do the reading for it before class meets. Each assignment is due on the first meeting (Tuesday) of its listed week, unless otherwise specified in the handout.

If you need help with an assignment, please check out the wiki! It's constantly being updated and has information about using CavePainting, what to do if things go wrong, and who to contact if you can't fix stuff yourself. If you sign up for a wiki user name using the link in the upper-right corner, you can edit pages and create new ones to share information with your classmates.

Another bit of useful information for you might be the answers your classmates handed in for questions on previous assignments.


The first class meets Tuesday, September 10th at 10am in CIT room 506.

Assignment Overview

Week 9/10 9/12 9/17 9/19 9/24 9/26 10/1 10/3 10/8 10/10 10/15 10/17 10/22 10/24 10/29 10/31 11/5 11/7 11/12 11/14 11/19 11/21 11/26 11/28 12/3 12/5 12/10 12/12
Due   1A, 1B 1C 2A 2B 3A 3B 4A 4B 5A 6 Plan None 6 Milestone 6 Final
Assigned 1   2   3   4   5 6        

Week 1: Tues 9/10 at CIT 506 and Thurs 9/12 at Granoff Studio 4

TopicSectionsAssignments

Introduction to Scientific Visualization and the Cave

  • the class
  • the scientific method
  • tips on reading scientific papers
  • the history of the scientific image
  • digital visualization
  • virtual reality visualization
  • animal locomotion
  • bats
  • design paradigm for the cave: sensory perception and comprehension
  • limitations of textures, animations, etc.
  • nature and geometry
  • the computer scientist as a toolsmith
  • scientific questions at different levels
  • hypothesis generation
Visuals microworlds, electron micro, fluid images, Char Davies, body without organs, bat wings
Readings
  • Read Form, Shape and Mass Chapter 3., pp 57-85, from Abstraction in Art and Nature by Nathan Cabot Hale. Look at the images.
  • Read Sensitive Chaos by Schwenk.
  • Read Patterns in Nature by Peter Stevens for topics relevant to your assignment hypothesis. Also, skim the full book, which is in the Cave room (please, the book should not leave that room.)
Slides

Week 2: Tues 9/17 and Thurs 9/19 at the Granoff Studio 4

TopicSectionsAssignments

Natural Force and Form

  • sketch techniques, critique, and revision
  • design vocabulary, visual metaphor, and narrative
  • principles of perceptual relativity
  • qualities and dimensions of visual objects
Group Crit Force and Form: Design and two-minute presentations
Visuals Gestalt Form, Brancusi, Pollock, natural metaphor
Readings
  • Read original Cave paper. Spend about 15-30 minutes on it. This is for historical context about the Cave and to give a feel for some of the trade-offs of a Cave compared to other kinds of virtual reality environments. Concentrate on sections 1.1, 1.2, 6, and 7. Section 3 mentions some of the physical design issues that might be interesting. This paper is 15 years old, so some parts may seem out of date.
Slides  

HELP SESSION: class wiki, Introduction to the Cave, and the CavePainting Manual.

Week 3: Tues 9/24 and Thurs 9/26 at Granoff Studio 4

TopicSectionsAssignments

Natural Force and Form

Group Crit Force and Form: Cave designs
Visuals  
Readings  
Slides  

Week 4: Tues 10/1 and Thurs 10/3 at Granoff Studio 4

TopicSectionsAssignments

Gradients and 2-D Flow

Group Crit Gradient designs
Visuals  
Readings
Slides

Week 5: Tues 10/8 and Thurs 10/10 at Granoff Studio 4

TopicSectionsAssignments

Gradients and 2-D Flow

Group Crit Gradient designs
Visuals  
Readings
Slides

Week 6: Tues 10/15 and Thurs 10/17 at Granoff Studio 4

TopicSectionsAssignments

3-D Flow and aerodynamics

Group Crit 2D fluid flow visualization designs
Visuals 3D Fluid Flow, aerodynamics, windtunnel, physical models
Readings
Slides

Week 7: Tues 10/22 and Thurs 10/24 at Granoff Studio 4

TopicSectionsAssignments

3-D Flow and aerodynamics

Group Crit  
Visuals
Readings
Slides
  • Fritz's Kinematics slides
  • Sharon's Anatomy slides
  • Week 8: Tues 10/29 and Thurs 10/31 at Granoff Studio 4

    TopicSectionsAssignments

    Wing Anatomy and Kinematics

    Group Crit 3D flow designs
    Visuals
    Readings
    Slides

    Week 9: Tues 11/5 and Thurs 11/7 at Granoff Studio 4

    TopicSectionsAssignments

    Wing Anatomy and Kinematics

    Group Crit 3D flow examples
    Visuals Bat flight videos: smoke, wind tunnel, turn
    Readings
    Slides

    Week 10: Tues 11/12 and Thurs 11/14 at Granoff Studio 4

    TopicSectionsAssignments

    Navigation and Interaction

    Group Crit HW #5 Interaction Storyboard
    Visuals Menus/Interface from previous students, storyboard design
    Readings
    Slides Final Project-Virual Environments

    Week 11: Tues 11/19 and Thurs 11/21 at Granoff Studio 4

    TopicSectionsAssignments

    Final Projects

    Group Crit Final Project Proposals
    Visuals  
    Readings
    Slides  

    Week 12: Thanksgiving, no class Tues 11/26 and Thurs 11/28

    TopicSectionsAssignments

    Thanksgiving

    Group Crit Turkey Carving
    Visuals  
    Readings
    Slides  

    Week 13: Tues 12/3 and Thurs 12/5 at Granoff Studio 4

    TopicSectionsAssignments

    Class Review

    • Fill out course review forms
    Group Crit Final project midpoint milestone
    Visuals  
    Readings  
    Slides  

    Week 14: Tues 12/10 and Thurs 12/12 at Granoff Studio 4

    TopicSectionsAssignments

    Final Project Presentations

    Group Crit Final Project Presentations
    Visuals  
    Readings  
    Slides