The goal of the quarter project for this class is to create an application or research endeavor that demonstrates some advanced Mixed or Augmented Reality techniques in a useful setting. You will work alone or in teams of up to three people.
Groups should be formed by February and we will iterate ideas over different class sessions and adjust potential homework assignments to be useful for the eventual projects.
I encourage you to discuss your project with me before the
various deadlines, so I can give feedback earlier.
Late days cannot be used on the final 2 project deadlines (only the HW deadlines)!
You are free to use any programming language and development environment of your choice, and any hardware platform you have access to that can be demonstrated in the classroom. You are encouraged to build on top of the software you have explored for your assignments, but that is by no means a requirement.
Your grade for the quarter project will be based on two things. In lieu of a final, we'll use the time allocated for project presentations during which you can all demo your projects to the entire class. The second part of your grade will be based on your documentation (preferrably a web page) describing your project.
Demo
Each presenter/group will have up to 20 minutes to present, from start to finish, including setup time. You are responsible for making sure that you coordinate a well-working demonstration. We can help you, but you have to tell us what you need. You can use slides, use screen mirror software, or connect directly to the projector from your device to show the demo itself, and to show documentation materials.
A good demo should give an overview of the project's end result, and then follow with a detailed discussion of the various features / techniques implemented. Put a special emphasis on pointing out the various design decisions you were confronted with, and how you resolved them! If you worked in a group, it may be helpful to have one person run the demo, while another talks and gestures at the screen. Each person in the group should describe the aspect of the project they implemented, since they have the clearest understanding of the particular material. Make sure you leave some time for questions. Your timing should be carefully planned to show the course of progress in your project. Preparation will really pay off. Plan out what you're going to talk about and what actions you'll take in the demo to show it's operation in as good a light as possible.
Documentation
Each person/group will also have to submit a write-up of the project, preferrably as a web page (in a cinch, Google Docs can easily be deployed as web pages). Please make sure the names of each member of the group is on the write-up. The write-up should include a brief overview of the purpose and goals of the project, followed by a more technical description of the Mixed Reality mechanisms and techniques implemented. Include details about the design, development process, and algorithms, or whatever else you feel is unique about your project. Give credit to code, algorithms, research papers, models, and any other information you used in your project. You may create a small set of web pages, if you feel it helps your presentation, but keeping it all on one page is fine as well. Please try to be as clear and organized as possible. The write-up should also include some images / video clips of your project. We'd like to see screenshots that capture the various features and illustrate the interaction techniques in your project. If you're not sure how to capture screenshots or would like help generating a movie, please ask. Don't be stingy with the media - include a lot of pictures.
Regarding your source code to be submitted at midnight on Wednesday after the class presentations, together with the rest of the documentation: please submit a single zip file or tarball on GauchoSpace. I don't really expect to be able to run the program myself, given the different development environments being used for projects, but I need to be able to examine it.
The set of submitted web pages will be used to advertise
the course to future generations of grad students!