Course Activities and Schedule
Course schedule, in and out of class. Subject to change, particularly further in the future.
Week 1
Class 1/24
Class motivation, goals, structure, syllabus, wiki
Introduce everyone
Give a breakdown of the wiki
What was done last year
What is expected this year
Where to find everything
project-oriented structure for class
HW for 1/29:
o Review course home page and subpages
https://sites.google.com/view/brown-vr-sw-review-2018/course-homepage
o Set up your journal page and link to top-level journal page
o Log 4-5 hours of homework time in your journal page
o Read some bg papers (e.g., toolsmith, what’s real about VR)
o Read some of last year’s wiki
https://sites.google.com/view/brown-vr-sw-review-2018
o Surf for info on data types, data examples, and software tools
o Add at least one new thing to wiki (beyond journal)
E.g., software, or datatype
o Install paraview on your computer and bring to class
Installation is step 1 from the tutorial (further instructions linked to there)
https://sites.google.com/view/brown-vr-sw-review-2018/vr-visualization-software/tutorials/paraview
If you want to do more, that’s also fine, but we’ll do some in class.
o Do things from "Activities" page
o Log your time and any issues in your journal
o Ponder project ideas (always!)
Always message on slack if you have any questions!
Week 2
Class 1/29
o go around room and have each person say what they found and added to wiki
o Paraview tutorial with Amber leading
HW for 1/31:
o Dig deeper into different data types relating to vr data vis
Look at doc for vis SW and what it can read in
Vis SW that does *not* do VR could help here, as well, in finding data types.
o Continue with activities from 1/29 homework
o Review project guidelines
o Create 3-5 potential project titles in your journal
Class 1/31
o Trip to YURT and VR Lab - demo of supernova, moon, dinosaur footprint, paraview, et al
o Depending on class size, we'll split into 2 or more groups
HW for 2/5:
o Review web, wiki, and other resources to refine and solidify your ideas for 3 of the project titles you created. You can completely replace a project, if you wish.
o For each project, list three things you will do during the project
o For each project, list one class activity we might do for the project
Week 3
Class 2/5
Deliverables are what future readers of the wiki will look at and learn from. Examples might be comparative prose about different software packages, a Consumer-Reports style table of evaluations of features and quality of different software, tutorials showing how to use software for data visualization purposes, measurements of how long it takes and how difficult it is for a group to do a tutorial, etc. In general most of our deliverables should end up in section 4 of the public wiki. A good way to make sure you have a deliverable is to say explicitly where it will go in the wiki.
o pair up and review project titles, and activities. Working together, add deliverables to each potential project. Ask questions if you are not sure what to do.
o identify what you need to learn and do before this first project begins so that you can design it to be successful. The projects will start the last week of February, so you have about two weeks for this pre-project work. Check out what we will do on 2/7 to help guide this.
o go around room and explain the project that you most want to do, including what we might do in class for it and what you need to do before the project.
o document your potential pre-project activities in the wiki before leaving class
HW for 2/7:
o Create a draft plan for your pre-project. This pre-project plan should have milestones to be delivered on 2/12, 2/14 and 2/21 (2/19 is a holiday). The pre-project plan should include activities that will lead to a project plan for late Feb through the end of March.
o Continue reading, doing, and logging with any extra time
Class 2/7
o Pair up with someone you haven’t paired up with before and jointly evaluate your pre-project plans. Evaluations should consider:
Will the project deliverables be useful and significant?
Will the pre-project activities improve the potential quality of the project?
Will the pre-project activities help identify and reduce project risks? Risks often involve external dependencies that end up not being met or over-optimistic estimates of time required.
Will the pre-project activities themselves add deliverables to the wiki?
o Go over any questions from above, beginning with project concepts, deliverables, and activities described very briefly. Make sure to explicitly mention your 2/12 deliverable(s)!
HW for 2/12
o Finalize your pre-project plan
o Meet the first milestones from your pre-project plan
Week 4
Class 2/12
o pre-project milestones
+ list milestones for each day (today, 2/12, 2/14, 2/19)
+ describe where you are on today's milestones
+ what do you need class to do during pre-project period?
o get CCV accounts
o if time, gigapixel viewer tutorial
HW for 2/14
o your pre-project milestones. Note that these first project should have milestones for 2/21, 2/26, 2/28, 3/5, 3/7, 3/12, 3/14, 3/19, 3/21, and 4/2. Second-half projects will begin on 4/4 and go through the end of the semester. Here is an evaluation rubric for projects:
Project Evaluation
Below are a set of questions that should help in evaluating project ideas. Answer each with one of:
1) strongly disagree
2) disagree
3) neither agree nor disagree
4) agree
5) strongly agree
The questions are:
o The proposed project clearly identifies deliverable additions to our VR Software Wiki
o The proposed project will inform future research, ie, advancing human knowledge
o The proposed project involves large data visualization along the lines of the "Data Types" wiki page and identifies the specific data and software that it will use
o The proposed project has a realistic schedule with explicit and measurable milestones at least each week and mostly every class
o The proposed project includes an in-class activity
o The proposed project has resources available with sufficient documentation
o self-evaluate your journal with this rubric:
Activities logging rubric -- fill in in your journal
Activities logging rubric
key for each criterion:
5 == exceeds expectations
4 == meets expectations
3 == mostly solid with some gaps
2 == shows some progress
1 == some attempt
0 == not found
Criteria:
Journal activities are explicitly and clearly related to course deliverables
deliverables are described and attributed in wiki
report states total amount of time
total time is appropriate
Class 2/14
o pair-review journal reviews
o 1-minute summary of each review deliverables, practiced with timer twice each.
o pre-project milestones for today
o if time, continue gigapixel or move on to minVR or Unity tutorial
HW for 2/21 (2/19 is long-weekend holiday)
o "final" proposal in journal (or in document linked there)
o prepare 3 minute project descriptions with !powerpoint! slides sent to David AT LEAST 24 hours ahead
title, brief motivation, contributions/deliverables, schedule/milestones
progress on first milestone
3 minutes. really!
Week 5
Class 2/21
o project presentations -- 3 minutes each
Week 6
Class 2/26
o remaining 4 project presentations
o discussion of class time over first project period. Please be ready to consider what from your project could benefit from some class time and when. Also consider things you'd like to learn from other projects, to prepare for your second project, or just to know about research and VR. Because projects are the focus over the rest of the semester, there will be minimal non-project homework.
Class 2/28
o project milestone checkin
o more discussion of class activities
Week 7
Class 3/5
Brandon's more advanced tutorial on paraview. If you can do the earlier tutorial on your computer, it should be set up sufficiently (right Brandon?)
Class 3/7
Loudon's three 3D audio tutorials. Please bring the following to class:
A computer with Unity and Unreal installed
A headset/pair of headphones
Throw a ball tutorial completed for Unity
(Optional) Use the VR headsets in the Lab to complete the Audio tutorials
Week 8
Class 3/12
Gary and Zak will do an ARkit vs ARcore shootout. Here is what you'll need to bring for class:
compatible phone and computer
If you have a Mac and an iPhone, make sure you install Xcode and bring a lightning cable (to connect your phone to your laptop). We will be using ARKit to make a simple Augmented Reality app, following this tutorial!
If you have an Android, make sure to install the latest version of Android Studio and a cable to connect your phone to your laptop. We will be using ARCore to make a simple AR app, following this tutorial!
ONCE YOU FINISH, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO FILL OUT THIS FEEDBACK FORM https://goo.gl/forms/2t1W4l2sMTbRFydr1
Class 3/14
Project status: milestones, visuals, changes
Week 9
Class 3/19
Michael vtk.js tutorial
Class 3/21
Jing's AR painting demo
Project status: milestones, visuals, changes
Scheduling for after Spring Break
Spring Break!
Week 10
Class 4/2
First project results and second project plans (1)
For your results please list and illustrate:
persistent artifacts you've created and put in the wiki, eg, tutorials, comparative evaluations of software, comparative descriptions of software, even non-comparative descriptions of software :-)
what you've learned -- be creative, since others may also have learned similar things without realizing it
For your project plans, use the guide for the first project plans. Dates for scheduling are 4/4, 4/9, 4/11, 4/16, 4/18, 4/23, 4/25, 4/30, 5/2, 5/7. Final public demo is on 5/14 between 1pm and 4pm.
Loudon, Andrej, Giuse, Zak, Andrew, Gabriel
Class 4/4
First project results and second project plans (2).
Michael, Ross, David, Gary, Ronald
Week 11
Class 4/9
Tal first project results and second project plans(3)
IEEE VR Conference trip report from Johannes Novotny
Class 4/11
Class planning, including final demos
tal, gabriel, andrew, michael, ronald, andrew, andrej, guise
Wiki editing
Week 12
Class 4/16
Brandon minVR Tutorial (needed for Ross' tutorial on Thursday)
For Windows follow: https://sites.google.com/s/1x3I4pruD53DlbdCWJoTIDtM_JW5SouHp/p/1I5eajgJIbdAo_I4rSVwNJSHZ2Q8DQdEq/edit
For Mac and Linux: https://sites.google.com/s/1x3I4pruD53DlbdCWJoTIDtM_JW5SouHp/p/1RbZwtH_PhzJ3-9ZYKlYkXw1LCqbPFp6Y/edit
Class 4/18
Week 13
Class 4/23
David's Audio Reactive Features (Tilt Brush or A-Frame)
Zak's Airbrush Comparison
Mid-project progress reports (see #official slack channel for more details)
2 mins, progress, image, demo-day plan, powerpoint
Class 4/25
Giuse's IATK Unity tutorial
Week 14
Class 4/30
Andrew's In-Class Demo of Glyph
https://sites.google.com/view/brown-vr-sw-review-2018/vr-development-software/glyph?authuser=0
Class 5/2
Final in-class presentations (1): Loudon, Zak, David P, Gary, Gabriel, Andrew
slides: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bf0sg5li4k7tsl3/proj_final_2may19.pptx?dl=0
zoom capture: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/a2la2e94wr5jozj/AAAKt-ICd5ia3HU4eydf_4gNa?dl=0
Week 15
** Class 5/7 ** CLASS STARTING AT 10 with Gary and Gabriel
Final in-class presentations (2): Gary, Gabriel, Andrej Simeski, Ross Briden, Giuse Nguyen, Michael Colonna, Tal Frieden, Ronald Baker
slides: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l91mbqp8k6voube/proj_final_7may19.pptx?dl=0
zoom capture: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uvi8j4sgkxjur9k/zoom_0.mp4?dl=0
Final Demos Friday 5/10
12-2pm at CCV, 180 George Street
posters and demos, open to campus, invite all your friends
This page has two sections. In the first section is a list of activities you can do early in the semester as you try to understand VR and science and as you decide what your project will be. This first section also provides examples of activities you can use in building up a project of your own, which you will implement later in the semester.
In the second section is the calendar for the class. That includes what will do each day in class, and what the homework is to do before each class. Please be sure to check this regularly, as it will evolve over time. Some of the biggest changes will happen later in the semester when activities from your projects will be a part of what we do in class. Keep that opportunity in mind, since it is a great way to involve the class in your project and get meaningful input on software you're trying to evaluate.
Unsure of how to finish your 10 hours? Try one of the following (and consider how you'll assemble ideas like these into your projects)
Learn about studies and software from last year's wiki in the Course Archives
Read some of these resources
Find new data set examples that can be visualized in VR
Identify software that can visualize said data sets
Find, download, try, and document new software related to visualization in VR
Characterize types of VR software
Identify metrics for VR software
Ease, Power, Depth, Support, Learnability, Tutorials, Documentation
User base, Types of users supported
Find and read papers and web about efforts (like Searis)
Find and read papers and web pages about software
If tutorials exist for software, do them
Create tutorials for using visualization software
Document the process of creating the tutorials
Interview some experts
application scientists at research labs
Vis/VR managers at research labs
Create, post, and analyze survey results
Software used
Software evaluation
Flesh out gaps in the wiki
Potential class activities second half
project progress (x2?) (all)
maze experiment with and without audio cues (loudon?)
lidar tutorial (ross)
done: loudon, gary, zak, michael
? (tal, gabriel, andrew, michael, ronald, andrew, andrej, guise)
Potential class activities from projects
X loudon: 3/7 three 3D audio tutorials
X Michael: mid-March vtk.js hello world
X AR hello world tutorial (ARCore & ARKit)
X gary: android ARcore
X Zak: mac ARkit. If you have a Mac and an iPhone, make sure you install Xcode and bring a lightning cable (to connect your phone to your laptop).
project progress reports
Michael/David/Ronald webVR with Aframe or React360 atop
andrew: UI/UX evaluation (tiltbrush? unity--?)
Ross: lidar something in class, bring lidar researchers here to talk. lidar-jungle day
Tal; recreate twitter something, once more knowledge about what might work
Gabriel: something open-street-map related
Brandon: more unreal -- maybe something equivalent to ball tutorial (maybe Loudon)
minVR
minVR +
minVR tutorial (brandon?)
wiki section on VR design principles (Bowman et al 3D UI's book)
? Maya tutorial
? in-class project/tutorial development
Non-project activities
group wiki editing
Final Project Plans:
How to print a poster:
The poster printer (HP Designjet Z5200) is in Room 475 and is connected to a Mac
Because this Mac still uses the old system (cs kerberos), you will need to use a different password from what you have been using on the department machines.
To create a new password, go to a department machine, and in the terminal, type 'cat ~/.initial-kpasswd'. This will give you the currently set password.
Password can be changed with the command 'kpasswd'.
Once you have the password, you can log into the 475 computer using your department username along with your kerberos password.f
Office hours for the printer are 8:30am - 5:00pm on weekdays.
In the case you want to access the printer outside of these hours, feel free to message me (Brandon) on Slack, and I can let you into the room.
Once you log onto the computer, make sure your poster is in PDF format (either save it as a PDF or have it as a PDF already)
Open up the pdf in Adobe Acrobat Pro
Each user will need to define a custom page size under the print menu -> page setup -> page size -> manage custom sizes. The paper roll is 42 inches wide, that can either be height or length.
Be sure to select HP DesignJet Z5200 Postscript as your target printer
7. If the poster is coming out sideways or too small or whatever hit the red button before too much paper gets wasted. Then double check settings and try again.