Roll Call 1 for 3D Graphics Class 11

that IS me with the feathered headdress. I forgot to turn HUD on.

Final #5

Final #5

The Future of Immersive Education – 10 years down the road

I envision that Virtual Reality (VR) technology will be platform independent and web-based. Applications such as SecondLife will no longer use a “fat” client in order for users to experience VR, but will be more in line with Project Wonderland, which is a web-based VR application. Projects such as the Cobalt Platform open up a new world for learning.

SecondLife

Project Wonderland

Cobalt Project

















As 3-D graphics are crucial for VR, the sophistication and speed of which improvements are made will be important. Looking at 3-D graphics from the mid-1990's to just 10 years later, we can see that this technology will continue to grow and expand to meet the needs and demands for future applications.

Web-based VR applications will become more sophisticated and the 3-D graphics and tools used will be more in line with the quality that SecondLife produces, as well as being faster and much easier to “build” within VR.







1990's early 3-D














Doom circa 1994














Doom-3, circa 2004

VR will be instrumental in global education. Populations where schools and universities are limited or too expensive to build, such as third-world countries or rural areas, can now participate within a classroom environment, just by using their computer. Global initiatives to provide a common area, such as a library or some common gathering place, with computers and fiber optic networks will allow all pockets of the world to connect with one another.

VR will enable people of all ages to learn at their own pace and speed. It will also expand our knowledge of places around the world, as SecondLife has demonstrated with its SURLs of London, New York City, Greece, the Forbidden City in China and ancient ruins of Rome, Chichen Itza and Stonehenge.

The Forbidden City, China

People can recreate ancient civilizations and how people interacted and lived to teach us history and culture. Future theories about life on our planet and beyond can be created and how to expand our technology to met those goals.

Ancient Rome


















Searching the galaxy


















Science can also be used in VR. What we learn about the human body, physics, chemistry and our environment can be updated faster as theories, concepts and facts are discovered. Simulations will be a key tool in learning about cause and effect.

How this will effect the traditional model of education? I don't believe it will change that much as far as having actual institutions and classrooms. It will be an addition to the current model of teaching. Even today, educational facilities use eLearning tools, such as Blackboard and WebCT, to manage their courses and teach both "live" and online. Virtual Reality will just enhance that learning experience and enable students and faculty to reach out to other students and faculty that are across the globe in a fast and simple manner.

Learning

These applications also allow the ordinary user to experience places and events that they most likely would never experience in real-life, due to various reasons - you cannot transport yourself back to an ancient civilization nor travel to the future (not yet, at least!) Most people will never perform open heart surgery or work with subatomic particles. However, with VR, the sky is the limit. I do not believe this will take the place of traveling and working in other countries or even stop space exploration; however, it gives the ordinary people the ability to learn and immerse themselves in that world, and perhaps experience a bit of whimsy as well.

Hanging out


















Traveling in style



















Finals Index

Final #3 World Tours in Second Life

Final #3 - SecondLife Globe Trotting

I met up with Jacqui and Marcy in Second Life.



















And then took them on a tour of the places I landmarked - Stonehenge and Chichen Itza.

Stonehenge MeetUp:



















We walked into the middle of Stonehenge and looked around - some some folks having a picnic there.



















Group Photo on the Altar. No one was sacrificed or harmed.



















Jacqui getting "energized":



















Flying next to Stonehenge, I had discovered a place called River Waves. Chilling at the beach:



















Now, onto Chichen Itza, which is a famous pre-Columbian Mayan ruin in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico

Arriving at the Temple of Kukulkan (El Castillo):



















Group Shot on the ledge:



















Looking over the jungle from the top of the temple, we decide to fly over by the river:




















By the river, there was another ruin. It is the Great Ball Court, where the Mayans used to play something similar to racquetball or volleyball. This is the largest court of its kind



















Leaving the court and going to rest by the fire



















This site has amazing detail and the sound effects - hawks and frogs, river sounds. Stonehenge had great sound effects as well, especially by the River Waves.



















Next, Marcy took us to her places, Munich and the Balsa Airport

Munich shots - the Main Plaza


















Inspecting an Event board in Munich. Looks like some type of music events at this site:



















Balsa Airport - a place where there are famous airplanes and aviators

Meet & Greet by the Robot there:

















Jacqui strikes a pose:



















Hanging out in the pilot's lounge:



















Jacqui took us to Macedonia in Greece and Rio.

Arriving at Macedonia:


















Ordering a Blue Hawaii cocktail at the bar:


















You can get massages at Macedonia - I didn't realize it would be Marcy who would give me one!! Not for the timid


















Waiting for Jacqui, as SL crashed on her. Chilling with my drink and chatting with Marcy




















Jacqui's back and we are off to Rio.

Walked down to the beach- see a common theme here? We seem to LOVE beaches and fires!



















You can surf the waves! I have never surfed before in RL, so this was fun. And in heels, no less... I didn't run into the dophin - he & I are both ok ;)



















Well, that concludes the world tours. Marcy, Jacqui and I had a lot of fun. We spent over 2 hours in SL touring. Makes me want to go travel more in RL.

Finals Index

Final #2 Step 1b

Final 2 Step 1b


Actually building something. After reading the Mermaid Diaries site, I decided to try my hand at building a candle, per the Mermaid's instructions.

Started out fine - selected the cylinder shape and set the dimensions to X=.030, Y=.030, Z=.30

Wow - ok, small but I can handle it. Named the object "candle". Set the texture to blank and left the color white.



















Now, for the wick. In edit mode, I held down the shift key and dragged the blue arrow upwards. This produces a copy of my candle object. I then clicked on the general tab and renamed this to "wick". Dimensions X=.010, Y=.010, Z=.030. Selected a light grey for the color of the wick



















OMG. I can't find my wick!! Oh, there it is.

Now onto linking - well, I was supposed to position the wick so it sinks slightly into the candle. Can't find my wick anymore.

let's try making my candle bigger. Scrapped the first part.

Repeated my steps, only THIS time, candle dimensions are X=.30, Y=.30, Z=3.0 - YEAH!!!!

now I repeated the wick steps, only making my wick dimensions X=.10, Y=.10, Z=.30

nice fat candle & wick and now I can actually see what I am doing. Onto linking the two prims together.




















Right-clicked wick and selected edit. Pressed shift and clicked on the candle object to select it as well. Click on the Tools (top of screen) and selected Link.

The candle is outlined in yellow, the wick blue.



































Now for something fancy. I copied a particle script from "Sirena Hair & Fashion" (The SLURL is West Sunset (160,50,22)) in SecondLife, which will produce a candle flame. I edited my wick, making sure that the "Edit linked parts" box was checked off, and selected the contents tab. Dragged the candle flame particle script into that tab.



































saved. Nothing. Looked at the script and realized it was based on the original measurements of the wick. Edited wick, changed the dimensions back to X=.010, Y=.010, Z=.030, as I already linked my candle & wick together.

Left the candle size alone, as it makes for a better pic. Now I have flame!!



















I didn't like the color of the candle, so I went back to edit my candle. Selected the texture tab and clicked on the color box and changed it to a teal color. Too dark. I added transparency to the candle and now I like it.



















Final Result:


















I NEVER want to do this again. I guess in SL I am NOT a material girl and I can live with my box and not create anything else - ever. Not only that, but I had someone come up to me and ask me if I was REAL....I could have used a snappy comeback at that time, but of course, I can never think of one when I need one.


Finals Index

Where I went in Second Life

I went to Stonehenge, which I have never visited in RL and Chichen Itza, which I have.

I love the antiquity of these places.


Stonehenge:

On a raft....




















Flying above the ruins...


















I touched an "energy" ball and I got caught in the light...



















Sat on the altar and it kinda ate me!!



















Chichen Itza:


On top of the Temple of Kukulkan (El Castillo) . I've actually gone up those stairs, but you can't get to the very top of the pyramid. I was able to in SL!





















I believe I am on top of the Great Ball Court here. They don't play soccer like they used to - the Mayans would behead the losers. That would give you an incentive to win...




















Looking at El Castillo....



















Back again on El Castillo, but on one of the ledges...



















so, this should be fun to share with my classmates when I teleport them there. Let's see if they enjoy it as much as I did.