CS 290I:  3D User Interfaces and GPU Power

Fall 2007

This home page and the class mailing list will be used as centers of communication for the class. While the webpage provides you with up-to-date information about assignments and what is currently going on in class, the mailing list serves as an open forum: questions, answers, suggestions, etc.

General Information

TA:                TBD (if any)
Office Hours:  TBD 

Course Description: 

This course focuses on real-time 3D graphics interaction. 3D graphics performance on all computing platforms, ranging from large servers to laptops, to tablet computers to cell phones, has increased at a rate that outperforms even Moore's law.

3D user interfaces have thus become a technical feasibility and have made their appearance on all these platforms, most notably in the form of "eye candy" effects on all the latest desktop operating systems (Windows Vista, OS X, Linux Ubuntu) and on mobile devices such as the Apple iPhone.

The big questions are, why and how? Why use them, and how to implement them? There is no doubt about the "coolness factor" of 3D graphics. In this class, we will delve a little deeper than that to gain a thorough understanding of the uses and the difficulties of 3D interaction. 3D user interfaces are already an established component of applications in fields as diverse as scientific and medical visualization, industrial process simulation (e.g., oil drilling, automotive design), and video games. They will become even more important as the computer leaves its established place on an office desk and accompanies us in more flexible everyday situations, be it as a computing device we carry with us (wearable computing), instrumented  environments in which a network of computing equipment observes and augments our actions (ubiquitous computing), or in special purpose environments that allow a user to get unprecedented insights and experiences through specific simulated environments (Virtual Reality, the Holodeck). And even on the office desk, developments are in flux as the major consumer desktop user interfaces have begun to incorporate 3D technology into their present and upcoming software releases. Can we go beyond eye candy and add actual usability value to specific applications? We will provide an introduction to this exciting way of interacting with computers, with an emphasis on methods for designing and evaluating effective 3D user interfaces.

Prerequisite:

CS180 or an equivalent introduction to 3D graphics. We will require OpenGL knowledge. You have to be familiar with 3D graphics programming (homogeneous coordinates, transformations, 3D file formats, simple picking, etc.). We will provide some background information in class, but you are expected to catch up with the necessary  techniques proactively. Apart from the main textbook for the class (3D User Interfaces, Theory and Practice), which is mandatory, we list several standard graphics texts that may help you get up to speed. 

Course Requirements and Grading

The exact grading scheme will be decided in the second week, when it is clear if there is going to be a TA for the class.

The class will be highly research-oriented. The most important component will be a class project, which can be an individual research project, but we recommend to be a group project.

Class participation is important, and will be rewarded by extra credit, which may positively influence your grade. There will be many opportunities for active class participation, such as presentations of research papers, demonstrations and evaluations of interesting 3D UIs, etc. 

Texts

3D User Interfaces: Theory and Practice. D. Bowman, E. Kruijff, J. LaViola Jr., and I. Poupyrev.  Addison-Wesley, Boston, 2005, ISBN 0-201-75867-9

You will probably need some OpenGL reference. Luckily, there is a lot of material available online, e.g. at the official OpenGL web site. We will be using OpenGL 1.5 since the 2.0 drivers for our hardware are not yet stable/installed on the lab hardware.

If you are the type of programmer who likes to have reference books to be effective, the two essential documentation resources that every serious developer should have are the latest releases of:

• The OpenGL Reference Manual
• The OpenGL Programming Guide

You do not necessarily need to use the following material, but, especially if you need to brush up your graphics knowledge, it is definitely helpful if you have access to some graphics reference books. Also, you should constantly monitor the class Web site for links to on-line tutorials and other goodies.

• Real-Time Rendering, Akenine-Moller, Haines; AK Peters Ltd; 2nd edition (2002). [great resource for all topics related to real-time interactive graphics. This was the main text for the CS280 class on real-time graphics]
• Interactive Computer Graphics, A Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL, Edward Angel, Addison-Wesley; 3rd edition (2003). [Very solid textbook that teaches you computer graphics concepts and programming in OpenGL]
• Fundamentals of Computer Graphics, Peter Shirley; AK Peters Ltd; 1st edition (2002). [Good intro to CG in textbook style]
• Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice, Foley, Van Dam, Feiner, and Hughes;  2nd edition (1990). [Still a standard and great reference, even though its old age clearly shows. Less coherent than your typical textbook]

Relevant Journals and Conference Proceedings:

•     IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces (3DUI)
•     ACM SIGGRAPH I3D (Interactive 3D Graphics Symposium) Proceedings
•     IEEE Virtual Reality
•     IEEE/ACM Int'l Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR)
•     Graphics Interface (GI)
•     ACM Transactions on Graphics
•     IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
•     IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
•     Computers and Graphics Journal (Elsevier)
•     Proceedings ACM SIGGRAPH
•     Proceedings Eurographics

Quarter Project

Open Door Policy

We would like the course to be informative and enjoyable. Let us know what you find just, good and interesting about the course. Let us know sooner if you feel something could be improved. See the instructor, the TA, send an e-mail, or leave a note.

Class Materials

See also handout column in the class schedule!

Class Schedule

Tentative Topics:

• Introduction and History
• Applications (incl. Games)
• Review of OpenGL basics for 3D interaction
• Sample 3D interaction techniques in OpenGL
• VRUI, the UC Davis Virtual Reality User Interface Toolkit
• Overview of programming tools and libraries useful for 3D User Interfaces
• Design principles
• Displays and Devices
• Perception and Psychology
• Immersion and Presence
• Milestone Research Papers in 3D Interaction (selection)
• Interaction Techniques:
  • Selection and manipulation
  • Travel Techniques
  • Wayfinding
  • System Control
  • Symbolic Input
• Artificial Intelligence for 3D UIs
• Evaluation Procedures
• Future of 3D UIs:
  • Augmented reality
  • Tangible UIs
  • Collaborative UIs

Assignments

• It is imperative that every student who takes this class fill out the Student Info Form, and hand it in to us or mail  it to the instructor and TA before Mon,  September 26, 23:59:59. This form establishes the mailing list and informs us about your background to better tailor class content to your needs.
• Tue. 10/23: Please submit your project proposal today by the end of the day the latest. 
• Final Project Presentation Requirements