Proposal: Building 3D Models for the Web

Table of Content

I. Synthesis Summary

Scope and Significance

Students will work in multidisciplinary groups to build and publish three-dimensional models using Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML). VRML is a language for creating interactive three-dimensional (3D) environments for distribution over the World Wide Web.

The course is divided into two parts. The first half of the course will prepare students to design, implement and publish their own major collaborative VRML projects. This portion of the course will cover the fundamentals of VRML, Web publishing, the mathematical principles behind 3D modeling, group project management techniques, and 3D visualization and design. Guest speakers will be used to re-enforce the interdisciplinary nature of the course, giving students a variety of perspectives. In the second half of the course, students will collaborate to build significant self-selected VRML environments. Both the interdisciplinary teamwork and the 3D modeling aspects of this course are significant. The students' experience in interdisciplinary project development will:

Three-dimensional modeling is important because: Women and ethnic minorities are underrepresented among Web users. This proposed synthesis course will attract both to the course and empower them to contribute to the Web. In order to appeal evenly to both genders the instructor will not allow student groups to create competitive games for their VRML projects. VMRL projects must serve some purpose other than entertainment. The collaborative, rather than competitive, nature of the course will be particularly appealing to women and minorities. Those who enroll in the course will become competent and frequent Web users and contributors.
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Disciplinary Perspectives

The primary disciplines used in the first part of the course are mathematics, computer science, management and art. In the second part of the course all projects will use the first of these three disciplines. Most projects will also use art and music. Other disciplines will be incorporated into some of the student projects, depending on each group's choice of project and areas of expertise.
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Contributions of Each Discipline

The first part of the course will use a few fundamental mathematical principles-coordinate systems and transformations-to introduce 3D modeling. Group project management principles, from a business management perspective, will be introduced with the assistance of a guest lecturer in Management. Basic 2D and 3D design principles will be introduced with the assistance of a guest lecturer in Art.

The contributions of disciplines in the second part of the course will vary, depending on the nature of the projects. Computer programming can be used to control the behaviors of objects in a VRML world. Effective 3D scenes require compelling designs and accompanying music compositions or sounds. Other disciplinary perspectives will be used by students' projects that produce scientific visualizations. For example, one group might construct an animated molecular dynamics model, which would benefit from the expertise of students in chemistry, physics, computer science, and mathematics. Another group might build a room in which moving objects obey the laws of kinematics, requiring physics and computer science majors. If the room happens to be part of a historical re-enactment, an appropriate setting might be created by art, theater or music majors. A regional planning major may model a new neighborhood or industrial complex in collaboration with sociology or business majors. Hotel and restaurant management majors may team up with art and music majors to experiment with innovative restaurant designs.
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Pedagogical Methods

In the first part of the course, students will learn fundamental methodologies for building VRML environments. They will immediately put these into practice through the seven assignments listed in the course outline. Additionally, two exams will be used to assess the students' mastery of these methodologies.

In the second part of the course, students will design and implement their group projects. The course outline describes the details of this process. Students will engage in synthetic reasoning in the project selection process, in the project design, and in the project implementation. Project selection will be a group process. Individual students will propose project ideas along with discussions of the projects' feasibility and expertise requirements. The class as a whole will critique the project proposals. Since 3D modeling is interdisciplinary, students will engage in synthetic reasoning in developing their project proposals. The instructor will form interdisciplinary teams. Each team will design a project plan and implement one of the feasible projects. These teams will synthesize the principles from the first part of the course along with their own disciplinary expertise to complete their projects. The project design process will require analytical reasoning in addition to synthetic reasoning. The teams must be able to decompose the scope of their work into discipline-specific components so that they can assign appropriate tasks to their diverse team members.

During the entire process, groups will present progress reports to the class in order to solicit feedback from the entire class' broader range of perspectives. Students will draw from an extensive collection of resource materials-both books and Web resources-in building their VRML projects. The interdisciplinary nature of 3D modeling will force students to pull together resources from several disciplines.
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II. Syllabus

(1) Course Objectives


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(2) Course Outline

Part I

Part II

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(3) Evaluation

20 % Exams
Two exams on the topics:
3D Coordinate systems and transformation, VRML
Project management, 3D visualization and graphic design.
The exams are not synthetic in nature but will assess the proficiency achieved in the background material needed to work on the projects.

30 % Assignments as described in course outline
The first five assignments will familiarize students with VRML worlds, the Web, basics of coordinate systems and transformations. The last two assignments are more synthetic. Assignment 6 is designed to have the students implement effective small-team management skills before the final projects are initiated. Assignment seven is designed to initiate the process of selecting themes for the final project.

50 % Final Project

The final project work is all of a synthetic and multidisciplinary nature. Each project will use mathematics, computer science and management. Most of the projects will also use art and music. Other disciplines will be incorporated into individual projects and will vary based on the background of the team members and project's needs. Students will need to apply all the skills learned during the first part of the course and their own disciplinary background for the completion of the project. A breakdown of the different components (and weights) for the evaluation of the final project follows.
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(4) Required Reading

Selections from:
Visualization
R. S. Wolff and L Yaeger, Visualization of Natural Phenomena, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1993.
Virtual Reality Modeling Language
A. L. Ames, The VMRL Sourcebook, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1996.
E. Yewell, D. Nadeau, and J. Moreland, VRML Repository, 1995-1996 http://www.sdsc.edu/vrml/, (March 20, 1997)
Silicon Graphics, Inc., VRML Site, 1996, http://vrml.sgi.com, (March 20, 1997)
D. Maxwell, Tenochtitlan, 1997, http://vrml.sgi.com/handbook, (March 20, 1997)
Silicon Graphics, Inc., Jupiter and its Moons, 1997, http://vrml.sgi.com/worlds/vrml2/jupiter/index.html, (March 20, 1997)
Group Problem Solving
R. S. Baron, N. L. Kerr, and N. Miller, Group Process, Group Decision, Group Action, Brooks/Cole Publishing, Pacific Grove, California, 1992.
Web Design and Publishing
L. LeMay, Teach Yourself Web Publishing With HTML 3.2 in 14 Days, Sams.net, Indianapolis, 1996.
National Center for Supercomputing Applications, A Beginner's Guide to HTML, 1997, http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html, (April 7, 1997)
Adobe Systems, Inc., Adobe Photoshop Tips and Techniques, 1997, http://www.adobe.com/studio/tipstechniques/photoshop.html, (March 24, 1997). Note: This link is no longer active, as of April 2009.
Other References
Visualization
E. R. Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Graphics Press, Cheshire, CT, 1992.
E. R. Tufte, Envisioning Information, Graphics Press, Cheshire, CT, 1990.
Virtual Reality Modeling Language
J. R. Vacca, VRML: Bringing Virtual Reality to the Internet, AP Professional, Boston, 1996.
J. Hartman and J. Wernecke, VRML 2.0 Handbook, Addison Wesley Developers Press, 1996.
R. Lea, K. Matsuda, K. Miyashita, Java for 3D and VRML Worlds, New Riders Publishing, Indianapolis, 1996.
Group Problem Solving
H. J. Brightman, Group Problem Solving: An Improved Managerial Approach, Georgia State University, Business Publication Division, Atlanta, 1988.
A. L. Delbecq, A. H. Van de Ven, and D. H. Gustafson, Group Techniques for Program Planning: A Guide to Nominal Group and Delphi Processes, Scott, Foresman, Glenview, Illinois, 1975.
C. M. Moore, Group Techniques for Idea Building, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, 1987.
S. Worchel, W. Wood, and J. A. Simpson, editors, Group Process and Productivity, Sage Publications, Newbury, California, 1992.
Web Design and Publishing
W. Stanek, Web Publishing Unleashed: HTML, CGI, SGML, VRML, JAVA, Sams.net, Indianapolis, 1996.
P. Seaman and J. Cline,Website Sound, New Riders Publishing, Indianapolis, 1996.
L. Weinman, Designing Web Graphics 2, New Riders Publishing, Indianapolis, 1996.
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(5)Special Resource Requirements

Students will need access to VRML display software on 15-20 computers. This software is available freely over the Internet. The Mathematics Department has a computerized classroom of 31 Macintosh computers. VRML display software will be installed on this equipment and the synthesis course will be scheduled to meet in this classroom.

About 6-8 copies of VRML development software will also be required. Ideally, two of these copies would be installed on high-performance Unix workstations manufactured by Silicon Graphics, Inc., and the remaining copies would be installed on Macintoshes. Four Mathematics Department faculty have applied for a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to purchase these workstations. However, if the grant proposal is unsuccessful, the department will purchase development software for installation on departmental Power Macintoshes. The March 1997 issue of Internet Magazine recommends the $69 Internet 3D Space Builder 2.0 from Paragraph, Inc.

The instructors will also need an overhead display system for classroom demonstration. A display system is currently available in the department's computerized classroom of Macintoshes. If the NSF grant proposal is successful, it will fund the purchase of a high-resolution display for the Silicon Graphics workstations.

(6) Bibliography used in preparing this proposal

See Required Readings
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III Publicity Form

For publication in Semester-by-semester Undergraduate Course Schedule
Topic Title:
Building 3D Models for the Web
Prerequisites:
basic computer literacy (word processing and email) and 73 sh completed
Professor:
H. Edward Donley
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Description (limit 100 words):

Combine forces with creative students from other disciplines to build your own virtual worlds.
Learn the basics of three-dimensional (3D) computer multimedia and use Virtual Reality Modeling Language to publish interactive 3D models on the Web. Possible multidisciplinary group projects are: theater set designs, fly-through sculptures, manufacturing process designs, walk-through urban environments, virtual tours of living organisms, reconstructed archeological sites, restaurant and other commercial interiors, and animated molecular models. Students from a variety of majors are encouraged to enroll so that diverse viewpoints can be applied to the projects. See http://www.ma.iup.edu/~hedonley/ls499/.
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Typical Readings (provide author and short title):
R. S. Wolff and L Yaeger, Visualization of Natural Phenomena (1993)
A. L. Ames, The VMRL Sourcebook (1996)
D. Maxwell, Tenochtitlan, VRML Model (1997)
Silicon Graphics, Inc., Jupiter and its Moons, VRML Model, (1997)
R. S. Baron, N. L. Kerr, and N. Miller, Group Process, Group Decision, Group Action (1992)
L. LeMay, Teach Yourself Web Publishing With HTML 3.2 in 14 Days (1996)
National Center for Supercomputing Applications, A Beginner's Guide to HTML (1997)
Adobe Systems, Inc., Adobe Photoshop Tips and Techniques (1997)
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Go to Ls 499 Main Page.

Maintained by H. Edward Donley <hedonley@grove.iup.edu>
Created by Alex Rolón <hsgg@grove.iup.edu>