�鶹ԭ�� Teams Up with Orlando Science Center at Otronicon Technology Event

Sun, 10 Jan 2016 20:21:24 +0000

Otronicon, a four-day technology event hosted at the Orlando Science Center, will feature several exhibits, activities and guest speakers from �鶹ԭ��, one of the sponsors of the 11th annual show.

Otronicon engages all ages with the growing digital-media industry, including video gaming, simulation, robots, virtual reality and other fields.

In addition to �鶹ԭ��, visitors to the show Thursday through Monday can learn about STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers and interact with technology created by local companies Lockheed Martin, EA Sports, Disney and others. Gamers will be able to create their own games and an art gallery also will combine technology and art.

“The experience has the opportunity to inspire interest in science and tech careers,” said Jennine Miller, public relations specialist at the science center. “Get a preview of tomorrow’s technology through interaction with some of our community’s up-and-coming start-ups and established players.”

�鶹ԭ�� exhibitors will be the E2i Creative Studio, School of Visual Arts & Design, Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy and the College of Psychology.

Here are the �鶹ԭ�� activities at Otronicon:

The �鶹ԭ�� STEAM Exhibition will present paintings, drawings, photographs and 3-D artworks created by university fine arts students and �鶹ԭ�� CREATE elementary students in response to STEM topics.

Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, the No. 2 ranked graduate game design school in the nation, will have a booth with students, alumni and faculty showing examples of student work and demonstrating the Oculus Rift virtual reality system.

2 p.m. Friday and Sunday – Project Spark. Paul Varcholik from FIEA will introduce participants to game programming using Project Spark on the Xbox One. Students will set up an avatar with the ability to move, jump and shoot. Target audience: middle school students.

10:30 a.m. Saturday and Monday – Virtual Reality. Nick Zuccarello from FIEA will lead a workshop about the challenges of developing content for virtual space.

2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday – “How Building Legos is Like Building Games.” Ron Weaver from FIEA will lead a workshop about developing games and what to do when all the pieces of the system don’t seem to mesh.

Noon Saturday and Sunday – Paper Prototyping. This workshop will show how to make paper prototypes so game designers can first try out their idea to see if it is fun before writing the first code.

1 p.m. Monday – Game Production: The Stuff You Don’t Think About. Production is about more than just making a game. Other things to consider are Webservices, version control, hardware, documentation and peripherals. Presented by �鶹ԭ��’s Alexia Mandeville from the E2i Creative Studio

2 p.m. Monday – Girls That Game. Mandeville will be part of a panel on the growing field of women developing video games.

3 p.m. – The Science and Business of VR. This presentation will address the current state of virtual reality and how virtual-environment applications will fit in our future. Presented by Mike Macedonia, �鶹ԭ��’s assistant vice president for research and innovation.

E2i created Otronicon’s first event app to track visitors throughout the event and also include an interactive game to keep people engaged.

The School of Visual Arts & Design and E2i will presenting the 3rd annual Otronicon Game Jam, Plug In & Jam, at which jammers will have 30 hours to create a new game from scratch.

The Department of Psychology will display avatars to talk with visitors so the artificial intelligence entities can increase their language skills. The project’s long-term goal is to use these avatars in treatment for children who are shy and would like to overcome their shyness and have fun talking to other people.

The Orlando Science Center is at 777 E. Princeton St. For a complete schedule of Otronicon events, activities and admission costs, click here.

�鶹ԭ�� Researchers Receive Holographic Headsets to Study Intergenerational Learning

Mon, 23 Nov 2015 14:36:27 +0000

Similar to the hologram in Star Wars that delivered Princess Leia’s message for help, two new Microsoft HoloLens devices have been awarded to �鶹ԭ�� for researching the creation and transfer of historical information.

Researchers from 10 universities were recently chosen through a grant competition to receive developmental versions of the HoloLens, the first untethered holographic computer that allows users to view high-definition holograms and interact with the physical objects represented in the images. The units are not yet available commercially.

The customized headset weighs less than a laptop computer and allows users to view images with more reality than ever before with an advanced optical projection system that generates multi-dimensional, full-color images with low-latency.

“The HoloLens allows the user to see the mixture of the physical world around them and the 3-D image of a virtual object at the same time. The user can use natural gestures and voice and gaze direction to interact with the system and other users,” said Eileen Smith, director of �鶹ԭ��’s E2i Creative Studio in the Institute for Simulation & Training. “It’s in essence a wireless, self-contained, computerized visualization �ܲԾ��.”

The team of Smith, Lori C. Walters, Robert Michlowitz and Alexia Mandeville from �鶹ԭ��, and Fran Blumberg of Fordham University, were awarded two of the units that have the capability of mapping a room and adding in holograms. Some of the other university recipients were Carnegie Mellon, Dartmouth, Virginia Tech, and University of California/Berkeley.

“We are thrilled to be around the table with such eminent research universities,” Smith said. “It’s an example of how much �鶹ԭ��’s reputation is growing in the research world.”

�鶹ԭ��’s research project, Memory Lens: A Dynamic Tool for Capturing Societal Memory, will explore the capabilities of the HoloLens to facilitate the intergenerational transfer of knowledge about historical periods and gather what the team calls “micro-oral histories” (MOH).

The centerpiece of Memory Lens is intergenerational learning through child-adult interaction, according to the proposal. The experience is an interactive correspondence that recreates the gestures of the HoloLens users to examine preloaded and user-generated content based on a topic or era. Objects can be 3-D models, photographs, video, audio, and related micro-oral histories. Users learn through interaction with the virtual objects, the contribution of oral histories and scanned materials, and the personal reflections that are triggered between users on both ends of the conversation.

“The HoloLens will be the interface for an experience using 3-D and other objects that provide discussion cues to facilitate elders’ sharing of personal MOHs,” the team said. “Users also can capture 3-D objects to be added to the experience, thus creating a dynamic intergenerational sharing and learning platform.”

For example, if a child and grandparent were on the HoloLens and there was an image of a small Saturn V rocket, the child may inquire about the grandparent’s remembrances of the lunar landings.

“The grandparent may then talk of where they were when Neil Armstrong first set foot upon the moon and how it inspired them to become an engineer,” said Walters, content specialist for the HoloLens project and a research assistant professor with the Institute for Simulation & Training and �鶹ԭ��’s Department of History. “The concept utilizes objects, in this instance a model of a Saturn V, to spur intergenerational conversation. They can manipulate the 3-D object and their recorded conversation is the micro-oral history.”

Walters’ research interest is “virtual heritage,” a multi-disciplinary approach using the latest digital technology to explore the past.

Earlier this year, the Microsoft grant program challenged academic institutions to submit ideas to harness the potential of the HoloLens and holographic computing.

“The submissions exceeded our expectations,” Microsoft said. “We were blown away to observe such creative, compelling and promising academic applications for HoloLens across art, medicine, visualization, education and more.”

Alexia Mandeville Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News

�鶹ԭ�� Teams Up with Orlando Science Center at Otronicon Technology Event

�鶹ԭ�� Researchers Receive Holographic Headsets to Study Intergenerational Learning