Last class this week!

Hi All,

Just a reminder that it's our last class this week (determined by popular vote!).

See you at 2pm in the AGSU room.

Other students will be available to try out your VRE and fill in your survey; these are critical for you to write the final report.

Regards

Russell

Moving something along a spline

Hi All,

Ieva wanted to move a skeletal mesh actor (i.e. a mesh that has animation driven by a skeleton embedded in it) smoothly around her scene ... I found this tutorial which explains how to do it very well; too good not to share!


Regards

Toggling Post Processing Volumes and Blueprint Interfaces

Hi All,

Here is a tutorial combining two other peoples tutorials to achieve a toggling post process effect when you pick up a particular item in your VRE.


Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Regards

Russell

And the Winner is ...

Hi All,

After some furious last minute voting, Wednesday the 11th of October has won the poll for our last class.

We'll be back in the AGSU room from 2-6pm on that day.

Bring your VRE's ready to go and you'll have a willing group of participants to try it out and fill in your survey.

This means the final hand in for assignment two will be pushed back the same amount ... so the new due date for that is October 29th.

Regards

Russell

VR in the First Person Template and replacing Teleporting

Hi All,

There are a few of you who have started projects using the First Person Template and would like to use it in VR.

You have several options, each with particular advantages or opportunities:

1. You could "migrate" the content (this could be the environment you have made with all the different assets within it) from your first person template project to an existing or new project you've created using the VR template; like below:


With this option you'll be able to teleport around and pick up objects as in the standard VR project template.

2. You could enable the VR motion controllers in the First person template; like the below:



If you do this you'll get the VR gun rather than the VR hands that you get in the standard VR template project. This could be useful, but there is yet another option ...

3. You could modify the standard motion controller pawn to have a movement component rather than the standard teleporting function; like the below:


This could produce a more natural movement through your VRE.

Regards

(P.S. don't forget the poll on the right!)

Russell

Vote to select the last day of class

Hi All,

You'll see a poll to the right which asks you to vote for your preferred day for the last class.

On that day you'll need your VRE ready for other students to experience. They will then fill in your MEC questionnaire.

As agreed last week, we'll go with the class that has the most votes.

Regards

Russell

Your MEC Presence Survey

Hi All,

I've modified the first two questions of the MEC Presence survey so you can use it in Assignment Two, I've changed them to:

Who created the VRE?

(Put the students name who created the VRE here)

and

Participant Students Name?

(Put the name of the student filling out the survey here)

Follow this link to make a copy of the survey on your own Google Drive: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ugfF60iqHCAvm31eNn4lmauefN7Jr4sAmg-LkmOusBM/copy

You could delete the first question and include your name in the title section if you wanted to make your spreadsheet neater in the end, but it's not critical.

Regards

Russell 

Change of Venue!

Hi All,

As I flagged last week, we are unable to use the AGSU room this week.

Space is tight around campus, so we've actually had to book two rooms for our 4 hour class.

They are:

2pm to 4pm: Ainsworth 201 (you'll see the Ainsworth building on the way to the Barker Street carpark).

4pm to 6pm: Law 201 (you'll see the Law building as you head down the main walkway to ANZAC parade).

Will be nice to see some different rooms around campus. They say a change is as good as a holiday!

I'll be bringing the Metabox laptops and VR gear with me on a little trolley, so keep an eye out for me if you get lost.

Regards

Russell

UE4: Setting up the game mode

Hi All,

If you select the VR template when creating a new UE4 project the default game mode is set to "none". So when you go into the Motion Controller Level you can't move around at all. 

Follow the steps in the video below to create a game mode that works with the motion controller pawn.

Regards

Russell

Stupid Ideas

Hi All,

Please feel free to add to these in the comments section below:

So far I have 4 categories:

1. Frustrating/Pointless/Trivial tasks: Pigeon Follower, Avatars yawn to try and make you yawn, holding a shoe or a mouse, a large amount of sweeping/digging/cleaning required, unending unwrapping (like a Russian doll), Avatars laughing, Sowing grass seeds (and waiting for it to grow)

2. Training bad behavior: Bartender Gaze Avoidance, Pig Tour (I don't fully understand this one, so I put it in this category to provoke a response from you guys).

3. Taking advantage, or accentuating, weaknesses in VR systems: Drunkenness Simulator (VR can make you dizzy), eating, power lifting, itch simulator. 


4. Soon, or likely, to be superseded innovations: Kicking object using hand controllers

There might be more categories ... leave those suggestions in the comments section too.





Regards

Russell

Hi All,

You'll remember from last week that step two in the procedure for Assignment 2 was ...

"Design and create the experience described above using the computer game editor for Unreal Engine 4."

See below on some more advice on how to do this:

1. Download the Epic Games Launcher: 

https://www.unrealengine.com/download

2. Install the latest version of the engine.

3. Follow these two tutorials...

Unreal Editor Quick Start Guide: https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/QuickStart/index.html

Introduction to Blueprints: https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Blueprints/GettingStarted/

4. Create a new project (use the yellow Launch button on the left) and select the VR template.

In my case I had to create a game mode blueprint and assign the motion controller pawn as the default pawn. Then I had to select that game mode in the project settings under maps and modes. I'll show you this in class today.

5. Describe the experience you would like to create in 50 words or less; my advice is to focus on one idea, think about a short but impact full experience (remember you are not creating a whole world or game).

6. With your "Stupid Idea" in mind search the Epic Games Marketplace (In the Epic Games Launcher have UNREAL ENGINE selected at the top and you'll see a link to the Marketplace on the left of the window) for an asset to support your experience.

7.  Ask for advice, from me or each other (some of you have prior experience with UE4) or look for any more tutorials you might need to achieve the experience you are after.

Assignment 2 Launch Today!

Hi All,

While you have until midnight tonight to submit your final Assignment 1 report we will still kick off Assignment 2 today so we can keep to schedule.

The below is from the Course Outline: we'll go over this in class today.

Assignment 2:

Title:

Stupid Ideas, or, “What if the smartest people in the world understand something that the rest of us don't?” (Norton, 2013)

Weighting/Submission Date:

60% submit on October 8^th by 23:59

Description:

Step 1: Review the entrepreneurial strategies that advocate the proposal of a “stupid” idea as the basis for a VR experience.

Step 2: Design and create the experience described above using the computer game editor for Unreal Engine 4.

Step 3: Invite participants from the class to try your newly created experience.

Step 4: Evaluate Presence using the questionnaire supplied.

Step 5: Prepare a 500 word report interpreting the findings gathered from your participants.

Rational in relation to the learning outcomes:

This assignment relates to enacting entrepreneurial strategies, learning level design in UE4, learning visual scripting in UE4 and utilising marketplace assets in UE4.

Reviews

Regards

Russell

  

Data Analysis

Hi All,

Before you can actually write the report you need to analyze the data; this PDF has some helpful hints and things to keep in mind when analyzing quantitative data:

DataAnalysis.PDF

Regards

Russell

Tips for writing the 500 word report

Hi All,

I shared this advice with you last week, but have copied it below for quick reference (highlighting some key points): http://www.earthnerds.com/5-helpful-paragraphs-for-easy-500-words-essay-writing.aspx 

(Note: we agreed that your 500 word reports should be within 450-550 words.)

Regards

Russell

Writing 500 Word Essays May be Quite Easy

Even though 500 seems like a large number, it really only translates to about a page of single spaced size 12 font printing. It’s not too difficult to write a single page essay once you know how to go about doing it.

Basically, think of it as writing 5 paragraphs of approximately 100 words each. That’s approximately 6 or 7 sentences depending on how long you make them. Here are the 5 paragraphs for your 500 word essay:

1. The introduction. Even though this paragraph comes first, it’s easiest to write it last. That’s because you don’t know what you’re going to write before you write it. Once the body of the essay is completed, you can come back to this step and write the introduction.
2. The body will be comprised of 3 paragraphs. The first paragraph will be the first main point you are trying to put across to the reader. Make sure you support this point with facts or with your point of view, depending on what type of essay you’re writing.
3. This is the second point of the body. The same rules apply for this point. Make sure you give adequate support.
4. And the third and final main point of the body; keep it concise and provide the necessary supporting evidence.
5. The conclusion is the final paragraph of the essay. It can also have 100 words, approximately. It should be a summary of the essay. Make sure it’s worded differently than the introduction. It should leave the reader with something to think about.

Your essay should make an impact. It should be memorable, interesting and make them think or change their opinion about something. Before you make your final revision, be sure you have satisfied all the requirements of the assignment. Word count is important, but it’s not the only thing that counts. You usually have to adhere to certain formatting rules as well. Perhaps the font has to be a certain style and size. The header and footer and the side margins should all be according to the assignment as well.

It’s generally accepted to go a few words over but when the essay is fairly short like this one, try not to go under the specified word count. Take full advantage of the 500 words you have the opportunity to use to get your point across.

Formula's in Google Sheets

Hi All,

Here is a short video showing how you can perform basic calculations using Google Sheets:


With these basic functions you'll be able to compare the results from the spreadsheet in many different ways.

Regards

Link to Presence Results

Hi All,

I emailed you a link to the Google Spreadsheet that collates the Presence questionnaire results earlier in the week, but here it is again for your reference: Presence Questionnaire Results


Regards

MEC Presence Questionnaire

Hi,

You can find the source for the questionnaire and instructions for its use here: http://academic.csuohio.edu/kneuendorf/frames/MECFull.pdf

You'll see we are doing the shortest version, so might find some interest in the questions we have left out.

Regards

Are these Stupid Ideas?

Hi All,

In some ways connected to Virtual Reality (or at least Virtuality) and in some ways connected to Stupid Ideas are the counter intuitive ideas presented in this video on the Banach-Tarski paradox:


Don't worry if it doesn't make any sense ... the idea is to get you thinking about ideas you find difficult, or impossible, to comprehend.

Regards

Russell

Presence Questionnaire in Online Form

Hi All,

Great first class on Wednesday, I’m looking forward to more of the same. I’ll bring along a flying game next week for you to try.

Since Wednesday I discovered Google Forms, it will allow us to use a web based form to capture your responses to the Presence Questionnaire; and automatically collates everyone’s responses. In addition, at the click of a button, it can be translated to Google Sheets (which is like Excel Spreadsheets) so we can do some further analysis.

Much better than the paper system!   

For those of you who have already filled out your questionnaires on paper please transfer it to the form and you’ll still benefit from the automatic collation of results.

The form is here: https://goo.gl/forms/SyUBgNNXVCTpJ3DR2

See you all next week.

Regards

Welcome to Advanced VR and Presence

Hi All,

Welcome to the course blog for Advanced VR and Presence.

Please check back regularly for information and updates regarding the course as it evolves over the next 9 weeks.

To begin with you'll find a link to the course outline to the right.

Regards