Running the DSCVR System

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Table of Contents

  1. Turning on the controller
  2. Turn on the system
  3. Turn on the head tracking (only if necessary)
  4. Turning on 3D
  5. Moving your data to the system
  6. Launching your Application
  7. Exiting the Application
  8. Rebooting the System (Only if things go horribly wrong)
  9. Shutting down the System (things to do before you leave)

Turning on the controller

1) Go to the machine on the side of the room

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2) Unplug the PS3 Controller

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3) click the PS3 icon on the computer

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4) You will be prompted for a password.  It is on the pink sticky on the desk

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5) You will now be prompted to push the PS button.  Press and hold it down until the controller shakes.  This means it is now ready to go.

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Turn on the system

1) The screens should be blacked out when you come in

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2) Go to the machine in the back of the room

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3) Click the green button on the top bar

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4) Now the screens should be on

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Turn on the head tracking (only if necessary)

This should be running automatically.  If it isn’t you may need to start the tracking server.

1) The head tracking is run from another machine.  To access it click the VNC icon

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2)  You will be prompted for a password.  It is on the pink sticky note

3) I unfortunately don’t have screenshots for these next steps yet.  The SkeletonApp should be ready to go.  To run it either press F5 or click the green run triangle.

4) When running, change the tracking to “sticky 1 player”

Turning on 3D

1) Click the glasses in the top bar

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2) Uses the “aviator” style glasses.  These are designed for the system.  The other glasses will not work optimally.

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Moving your data to the system

1) All of your code, applications and code need to be put on the “dscvr” mount.  This can be found by clicking the link on the side of the window or through the path “/mnt/dscvr/”

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Launching your Application

1) There are a few shortcuts to launch apps.  You can look at how these are setup by right clicking on them and choosing properties.

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2) If you would like to launch your application from a terminal, open up a window.  Either right-click on the desktop or click the icon to the left of the green circle icon

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In the terminal type

csastart [path to application] [parameters]

Here is an example

csastart ~/dscvr/apps/SkeletonApp/SkeletonApp ~/dscvr/data/exampleData

Exiting the Application

1) To exit the application, press the escape key

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2) If for some reason this doesn’t work, you can force close the application by typing these commands into a terminal window

tentakel killall -9 [application name]killall -9 [application name]

for example

tentakel killall -9 SkeletonApp
killall -9 SkeletonApp

Rebooting the System (Only if things go horribly wrong)

1) You can reboot the system by typing these two commands into a terminal

tentakel reboot
reboot

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Shutting down the System (things to do before you leave)

1) Make sure your application is closed (i.e. you see a blue background)

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2) Turn off the monitors by clicking the red icon

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3) Now the monitors should be turned off

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4) Turn off the controller so the batteries don’t drain.  Do this by holding the PS button until the red lights turn off

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5) Plug the controller back in

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6) Turn off the lights and close the door behind you

 Add comments for other information that you have found useful for working with the DSCVR system

 

Vex 5/2

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walking

This week:

Cory – Programmed NPCs to walk or run around to random locations. Created simple teleporting functionality. Other small things for the Reverse Turing Test.

Giang – Looked into and created a base system we can use for goal platform in the Zombie co-op mode.

Jacob – Looked into and implemented having the NPCs drop weapons and health items. Also started to look into the Love Crowbar, which makes NPCs like you.

 

Accomplishments:

We created all of the base pieces for the Zombie Co-op and Reverse Turing Test modes. Only need to combine them and tweak things to get them how we want.

 

Problems:

The models that NPCs use are not always the same as the one that we can load for players. There are subtle differences like a differently colored jacket or an extra item on the NPC’s belt. Choosing the NPC models for the Reverse Turing Test mode may be difficult if this problem is present on most NPCs.

Also, Making an NPC like you does not seem to mean that they will defend you. This may affect the Player vs Player Armies mode.

 

Still on schedule?

I think we’ve done a good job of catching up this week. Probably still a week behind, but we gave ourselves an extra week at the beginning to account for that.

 

Plans for next week:

Group – Testing Multiplayer support. Combining different elements to construct each Gamemode. We at least want to have one of the gamemodes completed in the next few days. Work on a goal system.

Cory – Look into Team creation for the Player vs Player Armies mode. Currently, every player and NPC is independent of each other. Possibly help create a Menu system for starting games.

Jacob – Keep looking into implementing a “Love Weapon” for the Player vs Player Armies setup. Make sure Tridef 3D Ignition software works correctly on his computer.

Giang – Make sure Tridef 3D Ignition Software works correctly on his computer. Possibly help create a Menu system for starting games.

Music Team 5/2

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IMG_3713Simon: This week, with some help I got Fmod to work in the Discover system. The simulation now plays music and has a basic spectrum visualizer working.

Tim: I looked at the code for the texture packs.

Chelsi: I got video coverage and started to compile which videos we will alternate through in the video.

Accomplishments: This week we got the music analysis to work in real time. Also, we now have video footage to play in the background of the simulation. The model is simple now but can be made more complex later.

Problems: Everything actually went pretty smoothly this week. Learning textures in OpenGL is still challenging but otherwise mostly everything we want to do is implemented successfully.

Schedule: We are on schedule now that the music analyzer is working. Until class is over we will update what we have to make it fancier.

Next week: Put the video in the simulation, and add more details to the visualizer.

 

About the end of the semester

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Now the end of the semester is fast approaching I thought I would post what will be due at the end of the semester.  In addition to the weekly progress reports, we will have three items due on 5/12 consisting of a final post, a group demo/presentation, and a final email each described below

Final Posts
Final posts should will be longer and more comprehensive than our regular weekly posts.

First, make a video of your work.  It should be between 1-3 minutes in length.  Put text and/or voice over when appropriate.  The video should give people who are unfamiliar with your project a better understanding of what you did.  Upload your video to youtube or viemo and embed the video into the post by simply pasting the url in the text.

Next, in the text, answer these questions:

  1. Describe the operation of your final project. What does it do and how does it work?
  2. Describe each team-members role as well as contributions to the project.
  3. As a team, describe what are your feelings about your project? Are you happy, content, frustrated, etc.?
  4. What were the largest hurdles you encountered in your project and how did you overcome these obstacles?
  5. How well did your project meet your original project description and goals?
  6.  If you had more time, what would you do next on your project?

Final Demos and Presentations
We will have a final presentation event during our assigned timeslot.

5/12/2014, Monday
5:05PM – 7:05PM
NANCY NICHOLAS HALL 1125

Your presentation can follow the questions in the final post.  Each group member should present information.  Be sure to describe your contributions to the project as each team member will be graded both individually and as a team.

After each group presents they will give a demo to the class such that everyone can try it out.  This demo is part of your grade so make sure you have something that works.

Final Email
The last step of the this process is to send me an email.  This is your chance to give feedback in a way that will be kept confidential.  Emails need to only answer each question, but can be as long or short as you want.  Emails should include:

  1. Your personal thoughts and feelings on the project
  2. Your opinion of the about the team dynamics of your group
  3. Your opinion if everyone in your group contributed to the project
  4. Your opinion if everyone in your group should receive the same grade

Optional If you would like to, you can also provide class feedback.  You can answer any of the question below, or simply write freely.

  1. What things in the class worked and do you think should continue?
  2. What things in the class do you feel did not work?
  3. What things in the class do you think would be beneficial to add in the future?
  4. Are there readings that would have liked to see earlier or later in the semester?
  5. Are there other topics you would have liked to have read about more?

These emails will be due after our presentations,and need to be sent by no later than Monday May 12th at 11:59pm.

RRCP 4/25

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RRPCFri2b RRPCFri3b

Rapid Room Color Prototyping 4/25

Caroline: Worked collectively in 3DS Max to implement lighting into the room. Was instrumental in pushing forward the IRB-which is on its way to being completed soon.

Soheyla: Used prior knowledge of 3DS Max to implement lighting into the room.

Olivia: Finished modeling the virtual room in Sketch Up, and exported to 3DS Max for lighting. Tried to help with lighting.

Accomplishments: This week, we made great strides by solidifying the fundamentals of our experiment i.e. room design/modeling. As a group, we worked together in wording the experiment in the IRB, and incorporating lighting and color into the models.

Problems: The main thing we need to make sure of is that the rooms have realistic lighting with correct coloring-this will take some tweaking in 3DS Max to produce our different colored rooms at different saturations.

Schedule: We are feeling ok on where we are right now. There are elements of the experiment that definitely need to be finalized, but we know what those are and are working through those details.

Next week: Submit IRB, complete all of the room prototypes with lighting, have survey complete, mock experiment/test all of the rooms

Music Team 4/25

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IMG_3684

 

Simon: This week I coded some new shapes into the virtual environment and worked on different ways to change the colors and shapes. I also investigated some ways to use OpenAL in our program.

Tim: This week I have been trying to find a way to export data from a spectrogram of the song into a CSV. However I haven’t been able to find anything on the currentprogram that I am using. I tried unsuccessfully to find another program for the job. Next week I plan on finding more information about sonic visualizer and other
music analyzation software.

Chelsi: Chelsi is gone this week but is researching what type of sound system to get for our experiment. She also got some good background footage to use and is getting more this week.

Accomplishments this week: This week we implemented some more prototype environments and did color testing. Additionally, we tested some more music analysis features and decided on how we want to play recorded video in the environment.

Problems: The methods we have found for music analysis so far don’t really work. We still need to find a good program to use.

Schedule: We are behind schedule because the music features have yet to be implemented. All the other major parts of our program are mostly working.

Next week: Implement recorded video and some form of music analysis.

Vex 4/25

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This week:
Cory – Looked into programming NPC behavior.
Giang – Brainstorming gamemode ideas to branch the game into.
Jacob – Brainstorming gamemode ideas to branch the game into.

Accomplishments:
We changed what kind of game we’ll be making. We came up with several game ideas, and we expect to be able to implement many of them.

  •  Zombie Co-op survival mode
    • Defend each other
    • Look for and collect weapons and ammo
    • Work toward a specific location
  • Reverse Turing Test with NPCs
    • Trying to kill other real humans
    • Get NPCs to fight each other
    • NPCs are reactive to attacks and other actions
    • Body swaps
  • Player vs player armies
    • Recruit NPCs to your army
    • Take out the other army

Problems:
Garry’s Mod documentation isn’t the greatest. Often have to test things to see what certain functions do.

Still on schedule?
We’ve changed exactly what we’ll be doing, so the schedule is a little off. However, we think we’ll have things ready in time still.

Plans for next week:
Cory – More NPC interactions. Specifically, programmed walking around and using items. Also, looking into the multiplayer issues.
Ghiang – Look into goal conditions trying to locate a platform to get to
Jacob – Look into placing items or having NPCs drop items

Reading 11

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For class 4/28/14
Post Comments by 11:59 pm on 4/27/14

Questioning naturalism in 3D user interfaces
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2330687
By Doug A. Bowman, Ryan P . McMahan, and Eric D. Ragan
Communications of the ACM 2012 vol. 55 (9)

or get it from box
https://uwmadison.box.com/s/2umddpaksotblcd1o722

As this will be our last reading for the semester we will have a free form discussion.  Write at least 4 paragraphs on the article.  You can discuss points of interest, questions you have, related work, and anything else related to the article. You can also think about position key points made in this article to discussions we have had throughout the semester.

Links from Andy Wilson 3DUI Keynote

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Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xv6FnM1SrE

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xujhFInvyxo

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz17lbjOFn8

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhvrOkaDxAY

Room Alive

http://readwrite.com/2012/08/14/microsoft-kinect-research-project-lets-anyone-bring-household-objects-alive#awesm=~ozUqz8VJnLQU5J

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHL5tJ9ja_w

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sazLd-pgpGc

RRCP April 18

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Photo of Joy Dohr.

This week we made great progress on finalizing our study design. Soheyla consulted with a research design expert and was able to get good feedback on how we should set up the study. Caroline consulted with a color theory expert and got many resources to help us pick out our test colors. She also tested the emotive more and thinks it won’t fit the scope of this project. Olivia continued work on preparing the rooms in Sketchup.

Problems encountered included realizing we needed to switch technologies from the cave to the Discovery system in order to get the requisite number of people, and needing to use 3DS Max for proper color saturation display.

The project is on schedule, but have to adjust our schedule up in order to leverage the people at the fashion show.

This next week we will finish the room modeling, finalize the study design details, and hopefully test the system on ourselves.

 

  • One piece of media related to your work (image, video, audio, etc)
  • What each individual in the group worked on over the last week
  • A description of the accomplishments made
  • A description of the problems encountered
  • An analysis whether or not the project is still on schedule
  • Plans for the upcoming week