Course Virtual Reality

Prof. Dr. Bernd Fröhlich
Dr. rer. nat. Alexander Kulik

M.Sc. Tim Weißker
M.Sc. Pauline Bimberg
M.Sc. Ephraim Schott

In recent years, Virtual Reality (VR) has become increasingly popular in research, entertainment, and education. VR systems allow one or multiple users to interact with a computer-simulated environment presented by an immersive display medium. In this course, you will study the theoretical, technical, and applied foundations of modern Virtual Reality systems.

The course starts by teaching the essentials of computer graphics and stereoscopic viewing required to realize VR applications. After that, you will explore the fundamentals of 3D input devices and 3D interaction techniques, including selection, manipulation, and navigation in virtual environments. The final part of the course builds on the previously acquired knowledge and focuses on collaborative VR systems for multiple collocated and distributed users.

The lecture will be accompanied by lab classes, which make use of the latest Virtual Reality technology such as multi-viewer 3D projection systems and high-resolution head-mounted displays. It will be your task to implement and evaluate various 3D interaction techniques using these immersive display systems, six degrees of freedom tracking, and 3D input devices. 

News

Lecture on Jan 28

  • Further details on multi-user interaction will be presented followed by information on the oral exam.

Oral exams

  • Regular exam dates: 30 and 31 March 2020, will be extended to 1 and 2 April 2020 if necessary
    Please contact maria-theresa.hansens[at]uni-weimar.de for a timeslot by 12 March 2020, but not before 1 February 2020.
  • Exam dates before 12 March 2020 are welcome on individual request
    Please email the instructor directly about 10 days before you would like to perform your exam
  • Later dates – after 1 April 2020 – are available only on special request and with a significant reason by email to the instructor by 12 March 2020
  • Deregistration is possible within the deregistration period stipulated in the respective examination regulations.

Course Organization

Instructors

Prof. Dr. Bernd Fröhlich [e-mail]
Dr. rer. nat. Alexander Kulik [e-mail]

Teaching Assistants

M.Sc. Tim Weißker [e-mail]
M.Sc. Pauline Bimberg [e-mail]
M.Sc. Ephraim Schott [e-mail]

Lecture Schedule

Tuesdays, 3:15 PM - 4:45 PM at Room 015, Bauhausstr. 11
Introduction on 15 October 2019

Lab Class Schedule

Group A: Fridays, 9:15 AM - 10:45 AM at Room 008 (VR-Lab), Bauhausstr. 11
Group B: Fridays, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM at Room 008 (VR-Lab), Bauhausstr. 11
Introduction on 18 October 2019

Target Audience

M.Sc. Computer Science for Digital Media
M.Sc. Computer Science and Media
M.Sc. Human-Computer Interaction
On individual request only: M.Sc. Digital Engineering

ECTS

Lecture and Lab Class: 4.5 ECTS
Lecture, Lab Class and Final Project: 6 ECTS

Lecture Materials

The documents from the WS 2018/19 course serve as a basis and will be further developed. The files are only accessible within the university network using a password provided during the first lecture (Username if necessary: vr). Adobe Acrobat Reader works well with protected files. Please do not redistribute the materials.

DateTopicDownload
15 October 2019Introductionpdf
22 October 2019Graphics Basics and Scenegraphspdf, video
29 October 2019Stereoscopic Viewingpdf, video
5 November 2019Stereoscopic Viewing Setupspdf, video
12 November 20193D User Interface Basicspdf, video2018video2019 
19 November 20193D Navigationpdf, paper, video
26 November 20193D Selectionpdf, video, optional reading
3 December 20193D Manipulationpdf, video, optional reading
10 December 2019Tracking and 3D Displayspdf, video
17 December 2019Multi-Viewer Displayspdf, video
7 January 20203D Audiopdf, video
14 January 2020Photoportalspdf, video
21 January 2020Multi-User Interaction Ipdfvideo
28 January 2020Multi-User interaction II and Oral Exam Informationpdfvideopdf-exam

    Lab Class Materials

    The lab class will be administered on Moodle. Please follow the link and register with the credentials provided in the first lecture to participate.

    The introductory slides of the first lab class can be found here.

    Grading

    Your grade for this course is determined by the successful completion of the lab class (1/3) and a final oral examination (2/3).

    During the lab class, you will be asked to complete both theory and practice assignments. You need to achieve at least half of the points over all graded assignment sheets to pass. The average grade across all assignments is your total grade for the lab class. Group work in pairs of two students is permitted.

    The final examination is an oral discussion covering all topics of the lecture and lab class. Appointments for oral examinations will be made individually at the end of the course.

    The following scheme is applied to convert percentages to grades:

    GradePercentage
    1.0>= 95.0
    1.1[93.5 - 95.0)
    1.2[92.0 - 93.5)
    1.3[90.5 - 92.0)
    1.4[89.0 - 90.5)
    1.5[87.5 - 89.0)
    1.6[86.0 - 87.5)
    1.7[84.5 - 86.0)
    1.8[83.0 - 84.5)
    1.9[81.5 - 83.0)
    2.0[80.0 - 81.5)
    2.1[78.5 - 80.0)
    2.2[77.0 - 78.5)
    2.3[75.5 - 77.0)
    2.4[74.0 - 75.5)
    2.5[72.5 - 74.0)
    [...]
    3.0[65.0 - 66.5)
    [...]
    4.0[50.0 - 51.5)
    5.0 (fail)[00.0 - 50.0)

    Final Project (optional)

    The final project (graded separately and awarded additional 1.5 ECTS) requires the participants to apply the obtained theoretical and practical skills of the course in the design, implementation and presentation of an individual small research project. In particular, you will be asked to develop a concept, come up with an effective and efficient implementation and present your results in a concise talk. This is an invaluable opportunity to work on an interesting topic of your choice with the state-of-the-art VR-hardware available in our lab like head-mounted displays, multi-user projection systems and multi-touch tabletops. Group work in pairs of two students is permitted.