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COSC 590/490: Selected Topics in COSC: Virtual Reality and its Applications

Spring Semester 2008 Course Information
Instructor: Dr. Sharad Sharma
Department of Computer Science
Bowie State University
E-MAIL: ssharma@bowiestate.edu

Group Projects

  Simulating and Modeling of Bowie State University's Library for Navigation
The main goal of this application is to aid the visitors and to present VR as a tool for educational and training. This project presents the simulation and modeling of a Bowie State University library building in a virtual environment. The development of virtual reality environment makes it possible for a user to understand and observe multiple paths that an agent would observe during navigation and evacuation. This environment can be used via the web or through a physical kiosk placed at the entrance of the building. This application can also be used to simulate the evacuation behavior inside the building.
   
  Educational Virtual Learning Environment/ Virtual Professor's Classroom
This project presents a virtual lecture hall that is similar to second life. TheVR environment could be used as an actual virtual classroom where students and teachers can interact with each other. The online virtual classroom can be devloped so that students can interact with each other and study together. Teachers can also use this mode for delivering lectures in an online virtual environment.Future work invloves adding a chat mode in the VRML environment.
   
  Battlefield Scenario Simulation
This project presents simulation of Battlefield of Waterloo that was fought on June 18, 1815 (old environment) between French vs. Russian and British armies battling after it finished raining (Very damp and muddy ground).Reconstruction of historical sites is one of the main domains in which VR has been applied extensively for two main reasons. First, what remained from many of these sites is nothing but a tour site with many years of landscape changes. The only way to provide the visitors with views of how the site would look like during 1815 is to recreate scenes from different perspectives and locations of the real site. Secondly, by providing VR tours of a remote site, one can access and view the historical place using his own computer while staying home and without even spending a penny.
   
  Evacuation Simulation
This project presents evacuation simulation of a school building using virtual reality. It is well known that crowd stampede is one of the most disastrous forms of collective behavior caused due to panic. It leads to fatalities as people get trampled and crushed as they fall. The application presents a school building environment with several classrooms with students, teachers, chairs, televisions, walls, doors and tables.This simulation aims to aid the visitors in navigation within the building.
   


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