Research at Craive Lab
Overview:
For the 2019 Spring Semester I am working in the Criave Lab, a research program through the Architecture School that creates large group mixed reality presentation on a 360 (11636 x 1200) screen. The main focus of the Craive Lab is to replicate real world location within a small space through manipulation perspective with the use of visuals and sounds. In addition to the 360 (11636 x 1200) screen the lab also uses over 135 speakers and 8 projectors to fully immerse the audience. For more information about Craive Lab please visit our website.
Motion Tracking:
In the lab I am using my coding knowledge to work on several general projects that will enhance current and future projects. This is particularly important because many of the students working in the lab are in the School of Architecture and therefore do not have a coding backgrounds. The biggest of these projects is that we are working to develop a motion tracking system for the lab.
For this project I am using Unity as my 3D environment and 6 Microsoft kinects for the tracking. On the tracking side I am using Python to capture the data and send it to Unity over a websocket server. This can be seen in the sendData.py test file. Within Unity I am using a panoramic camera to display the environment the player is in. By doing all this we are able to connect the location of a person in the lab to a location in a 3D environment. This can then be used to change what is being displayed on the walls of the lab to match the person's view in the 3D environment.
By the end of the semester we hope to implement this system in the presentation I am working on as well as several other presentations. To do this we are working towards making this project easier to implement for Architecture students who may not have ample coding knowledge. We are also looking at future uses of this project such as gesture tracking. (GitHub)
Presentation:
In addition to several general projects I am also working on a presentation that will raise awareness of the dangers and problems of nuclear testing and waste disposal. We also hope to raise awareness around how humanity will mark off waste disposal site in the future.
For the presentation I am using Unity as my 3D environment as well as the motion capture project that I am also working on. During the presentation the audience will be able to move around a WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant). As they move closer to certain parts of the plants information will become visible to them. This may take the form of a wall becoming transparent, a sound effect, UI text popping up on the screen and much more. We are also looking to incorporate the global use of nuclear material as well as its history and future.
Our goal is to fully encapsulate a WIPP within this project. That way an outside audience can better understand what is going on inside one of these facilities. In addition we constantly are thinking about how to continue this project in following semesters. This means that all work that is done on this project has to be well documented and commented. This is particularly challenging because future students may not have ample coding and unity experience. (GitHub)