Virtual reality (VR) holds a hitherto untapped potential as an educational medium. Large, complex and interactive 3D structures can be viewed and experienced from any perspective. VR offers a platform for well-founded discussions about the visualized data and for collaborative learning.
Our multi-user VR systems allow multiple local users to jointly explore large 3D scanned environments and they also support telepresence meetings with 3D video avatars. The activities of users in these environments can also be captured and replayed at any time.
In this project we want to use these functionalities to enrich large 3D scans of historical places with 3D avatar recordings of people interacting with the virtual environment. This allows experts, for example, to present their findings about the displayed data to new users or demonstrate the use of the scanned artifacts.
The challenges include output sensitive rendering of multiple time-varying 3D datasets, the design and implementation of effective authoring tools and comfortable group navigation techniques for joint promenading through these dynamic virtual environments.
You will learn about and work on the following topics:
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Collaborative virtual reality and telepresence technology
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Setup and calibration of 3D capturing systems using open source frameworks
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Design and implementation of an audio-recording module using open source frameworks
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Design and implementation of authoring tools for populating 3D scenes with 3D video avatars
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Output-sensitive 3D rendering techniques
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Software development for Virtual Reality (Avango-Guacamole, Python)
Requirements:
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Proficient programming skills in C++ and Python (e.g. successful completion of the course on programming languages)
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Solid understanding of computer graphics (e.g. successful completion of the course on computer graphics)
Assessment: active participation in the project, active participation in software development, development of a functional prototype, two presentations, final presentation, written documentation |