COSC 829: Avdvanced Virtual Reality Systems
Final Projects, Semester: Fall 2012 |
Multi-User Virtual Reality Environments |
Project 1: Teaching Traffic Safety through an Immersive Multiuser Environment
Students: Stephen Otunba |
Top view of the city |
The aim of this project is to create a multiuser virtual city environment similar to second life using Vizard or Unity 3D as well as other 3D modeling software. The environment implements a multiuser interface to allow multiple users to login as a user controlled vehicle or as a pedestrian and navigate a virtual city. The aim is to create an environment that can be used as a training and education tool that users can use to learn how to safely navigate a busy city. This project can also be used by new drivers to learn about traffic safety and the various traffic laws. The virtual city is equipped with everything one would find in a real world city such as traffic lights, sign, pedestrians, public vehicles, and other drivers. This environment will allow users to prepare for driving exams as well as teach young children how to safely navigate a city by doing things such as; cross at a crosswalk and wait for passing cars.
The Vizard physics library was used to implement steering and control of the user controlled car. The Library was used to implement things such as breaking, acceleration, wheel rotation, friction, and collision effects. Users can control the car through the traditional keyboard buttons, i.e. the arrow keys or w,a,s,d as well as the mouse. Vizard supports alternative methods of user interaction such as head mounted displays, Kinect, wand, and 3D wall. Users can also trigger some environmental conditions such as a day or night mode via the keyboard. Users can also change between first person and third person views based on their preference.
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| Server (right) and Client (left) |
Animated car driving down the road |
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Project 2: Multi-User Classroom for Online Education
Students: Ruth Agada |
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The goal of this project is to develop a non - immersive VR classroom environment in which the students can interact with each other as well as their instructors.
The objective of this project is to use the tools that have been made available and expand on the functionalities that have already being implemented, for instance being able to view PowerPoint files to the interface without being forced to go to full screen to view the PowerPoint. Another objective of the project was to implement this structure on a multi-user environment. Also, the location, look and feel of the chat interface was altered on both client and server side. Keyboard and mouse events were added to the project to allow the user to navigate through the scene and depending on the mouse click play a video PowerPoint or manually scroll through a PowerPoint.
Given the goal and objective of this project 3DS Max and WorldViz Vizard were the main tools used. Additional models were not required as the Vizard provides us with enough effectively create a busy enough scene. |
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Making it rain to stop fire |
Fire element was created in 3dsMax and imported to vizard |
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Project 3: Evacuation in a multiuser crowded VR Restaurant
Students: Kola Ogunlana |
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The goal of the project is to develop animated agents behavior for evacuation in a multiuser crowded VR Restaurant. Also crowd component, multiple point lights and touch sensors are utilized in the project. The project simulates evacuation of a virtual building observing the perception and cognition of the animated agents. Simulating how animated agents can learn from the virtual environment to find the nearest exit in an emergency evacuation is very important. The animated agent will experience various emotions such as anger, stress and panic as they try to find their way out of the building. Agents also react to environmental factors like smoke which can exacerbate the animated agents speed and direction. This simulation will provide useful training and education
The server is constructed by first importing Vizard library files viz and viznet. These two files include functionality that enables the virtual world to be created in the project. The virtual world contains a list of objects that can be selected by each individual client that tries to connect to the server. |
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Project 4: Multi-User Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) for the Treatment of Neurological Disorders
Students: Benjamin Harvey |
Client (left-side) and Server (right-side) |
The project established the creation of a multi-user VRET military environment which allows a medical professional treat a patient within the Virtual Environment. This is done by bringing the therapist into the VRE to help the soldier better deal with and confront feared situations, thoughts, and emotions. There are two separate avatars present upon execution of the client Vizard file. The program allows the user to enter the VRET as a patient or a therapist. Most soldiers who are suffering from panic and other neurological disorders are more likely to feel safe when there in another individual present in the environment. There is also a chat functionality that will be implemented that will allow the patient and therapist to talk and interact within the virtual environment.
The goal of the project is to create a VRET military environment to help reduce a soldiers fear and anxiety, with the ultimate goal of eliminating avoidance behavior and increasing quality of life. This is done by using the VRE to actively confront the things that soldier fears most. By confronting feared situations, thoughts, and emotions, a person can learn that anxiety and fear will lessen after each exposure session
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Patient/Therapist Multi-User Environment |
Top View (Server) VRET Environment in Vizard |
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Military Tents, textured background, and Airplane |
Military Ship in a Sand Storm |
Project 5: Multi-user Crowd behavior simulation in a park
Students: Tattwamasi Tripathy |
 Guided behavior |
The goal of this project is to show the crowed behavior simulation in a park environment. Simulation of crowd behavior is used in many fields, including planning, emergency evacuation, training and education and entertainment. The main idea behind the agent based simulation is to show the interaction and movement of individual agents. An agent has a set of behaviors and can be modeled at different levels of anatomy such as user guided or pre-programmed. Inheriting the adaptive behaviors of human beings in real time is the main inspiration behind this project. There are different activities are shown in the park environment. Individual and group behaviors are presented in the project. In real time people walk on the park pavement that is implemented in the project. Such type of behavior is called path following. Different groups come together in case of an emergency. In this case male and female agents are shown supporting their respective groups. In real life human beings get interested what their leader says. In this case agents follow the instruction of the leader and dance. The overall goal is to display crowd behavior simulation to help real world application like emergency evacuation planning and management.
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| Conversation between two agents |
Group behavior |
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