December 7, 2005 Source: University of Lethbridge:
http://www.uleth.ca/notice/display.html?b=4&s=4884 Virtual Reality University Campus Tour Demonstration Virtual Reality University Campus Tour Demonstration Geography 4700 Advanced Computer Mapping Open House and Demonstration Friday, December 9, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Room C-757, University Hall (Geography GIS Lab) DETAILS: It's one thing to walk out on the University Hall East Patio and have a look at the Oldman River valley and the city, but imagine doing that from Japan -- or being able to walk through a classroom, a lab or a campus residence room from Medicine Hat, Malaysia or Malawi. Thanks to three U of L students, some off-the-shelf video game software, a lot of programming and hundreds of photographs, parts of the U of L have been modeled to appear as interactive as any current video game environment. Their project, an interactive virtual reality campus tour segment, was the end result of an assignment given as part of an advanced computer mapping course taught by Dr. Derek Peddle and Jackie Montain (Geography). Students Bill Leitch, Chris Jackson and Kean O’Shea combined floor plans, topographical maps, satellite images, city and campus photos with several software programs to create samples of three University locations -- the east patio of University Hall, complete with a city and coulee view; a typical residence room floor plan, and an exact replica of the Geographical Information Sciences lab in University Hall. The result, after many hours of programming, is an interactive computer environment that you can literally walk through and experience on a computer screen (or view projected onto a wall). "With sufficient detail, the Virtual Reality (VR) environment feels nearly exactly as if you were actually on campus or in a lab," said Dr. Derek Peddle, the professor for the course. "The Interactive VR Campus could be used as a student and faculty recruitment tool, whereby students considering attending the U of L could check out the campus interactively from anywhere on Earth, as long as they have sufficient computing resources," Peddle said. "It could also be adapted as a tourism or local economic development tool to help attract interest in Lethbridge from elsewhere. We could – quite literally – enable someone to get a glimpse of Lethbridge over the internet or via a remote computer – and be able to market our City and services in new and innovative ways otherwise not possible." Peddle added that a large number of other university, government and private industry applications could be envisioned. "The key is that it shows off Lethbridge and its attributes, as well as the high-tech capabilities we have at the University of Lethbridge and its Geography Department," Peddle said. The students will demonstrate their work at an open house scheduled for Friday, December 9 between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in room C-757 University Hall (Geography Dept. GIS Lab). Participants can 'walk' through the various view segments, and large-scale images will be projected on the wall for audience viewing. -- 30 -- Contact:
Dr. Derek Peddle, Geography Dept. (403) 329-2524 -- U of L Communications and Public Relations Contact:
Bob Cooney, Communications and PR Officer (403) 382-7173
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