Class 10: Molecular Depth Cues

This is a screen shot taken from Second Life. This is an example of size differences. The railing that is closest to us appears to be larger then the railing that is farther away from us. 

This is the second screen shot taken in Second Life showing an example of Occlusion. Here we are standing in front of a wall that is blocking to full view of the building outside.

This is the third screen shot from Second Life showing and example of lighting. The light appears to be coming from the right side of the screen because the right side of the wood is light and the left side is dark implying that that is the shadow.

This is the forth screen shot from Second Life showing an example of texture density. Here we can see the cement blocks creating texture to the building wall.

This is the 5th screen shot from Second Life showing an example of linear perspective. Here we see how the road appears to be getting narrower as it gets farther and farther away in the distance.

This is the final screen shot from Second Life showing an example of atmospheric perspective. This is showing how the tree close to us we can see the detail of the leaves, but the tree far away from up seem to blend together and you can't really make out any detail. 

This is a final project in second life exploring molecular depth cues. It is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc

FINAL PROJECT STEP 2: MY COMPLETED IMMERSIVE LIBRARY/MUSEUM

the first 3D object I picked were the flowers

second 3D object were the trees out in front of the library

third 3D object was a stone table

showing the 4 different color blocks that made up the walls

the view from the front entrance

added some desks as the 4th 3D object

added some book shelves

used stone for part of the floor and carpet for some of the floor in this room

used clay for the floor in this room

created a section of the floor using ice and snow. first a layer of snow, then a layer of ice.

I enclosed this section of the floor with blue glass

added a sign out front

the view from above

Inventory:

Grass Blocks: 2700

Stone Foundation: 800

Walls: 1200

Carpet: 300

Desks: 8

Book Shelves: 100

Blue Clay Flooring: 200

Snow Decoration: 50

Ice Decoration: 50

Blue Glass Decoration: 30

Flowers: 6

Sign: 1

Stone Table: 4

Total Items Used: 5,149

This is creating a library in Minecraft. It is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc

FINAL PROJECT STEP 2: BUILDING MY IMMERSIVE LIBRARY/MUSEUM

first needed to use a lot of grass blocks to create a flat surface for the library

the pictures are a little dark sorry

created the first layer with grey blocks and the second layer with pink wool

adding a stone floor

added a purple layer to the walls and also some fire tourches

expanding the library

added a carpet to some of the floor

made some of the floor into ice

added ladders to make book shelves

added some tables to look like desks in a library

FINAL PROJECT STEP 1: IMMERSIVE LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

The Libraries and Museums Technology Working Group, also known as LAM.TWG, is a group of people working together to better incorporate immersive education into libraries and museums. A membership is needed to be a part of this group, and you can apply at http://JiED.org if you meet the requirements. LAM.TWG is looking for members who have real life experience with libraries and museums so that those experiences can be translated into a digital platform. They also are looking for anyone who had experience working with virtual worlds, simulators, and even video games. This way the members can combine real life with virtual reality to create the best possible learning experiences.

As immersive education grows, we can see that libraries and museums are going to need to grow along side it in order to stay relevant. I know from my own experience, Boston College has many wonderful libraries around campus, but I still find myself doing most of my research using the online databases through the BC library website. I think that virtual libraries would be a good balance between libraries staying relevant, but not losing the environment a physical library offers. 

The article on LAM.TWG from http://JiED.org talks a lot about bring the library and the museums to the students instead of traveling to the physical buildings. Like the examples given, many students around the world do not always have direct access to libraries and museums, making this project even more exciting. To be able to show students things they may never get to see in real life through immersive education is amazing.

As we watched in the beginning of the semester, virtual field trips to are becoming more popular among school districts that may not have the budget to take 30 students to the museum. Immersive education can fix that budget problem by creating a virtual learning environment similar to what would be going on in a museum. Below is the example we looked at earlier in the semester showing a group of students taking a virtual field trip to the aquarium using immersive education.

Right now I think we are still in the phase of libraries and museums trying to incorporate more technology and digital aspects in the actual buildings. Places like the children museum or the science museum are always adding new exhibits that encourage digital learning. LAM.TWG wants to go beyond that in order to create a virtual space that is more than a website for the museum, but rather a virtual world that allows your avatar to walk around the museum without having the leave the classroom. I think there are definitely pros and cons to this type of learning because seeing something through and screen is always different than seeing it in real life. But, immersive education gives those who may not be able to visit libraries and museums the opportunity to learn through virtual worlds.

Class 9: Exploring Second Life

this is the first world I was exploring. I was sort of like a tropical island. I was following the arrows and the path.

The second world had a little hut thing and there were supplies around it that someone had collected.

This is me editing my avatar. I picked the girl wearing the black clothes which makes me "female goth" apparently

The third world was a huge stone building that had tv screens all around it.

The forth world had a street and a lot of advertisements. Someone tried to talk to me in this world so i got freaked out a left...stranger danger!

In the 5th world I jumped off the dock and landed in the water. I could walk around under the water which was pretty cool.

In the 6th world I was in a huge house and I found a spiral stair case which lead me to the second floor balcony. I also could hear someone talking in this one.