The Oculus Rift allows users to be visually transported to virtual 3D worlds. When paired with the Leap Motion, users now have the ability to interact with a 3D virtual world using their own hands.
The visual displays on the Oculus Rift project the user into an immersive 3D environment. The Leap Motion then allows interactivity via infrared images of the users hands. Together, these two pieces of hardware create exciting new possibilities.
On Tuesday, Dec 2nd, WISH TV will be premiering a story featuring the IDIA and its use of Second Life in the Las Americas project. The project was a collaboration with the College of Architecture and Planning as well as over 100 students from 10 countries from around the world. The story will premier during the 11pm news.
On Saturday October 11th, Jesse Allison and members of the IDIA will be performing at the Society of Composers Inc. Student Nation Convention. The performance will be held in Sursa Hall at 8pm and will feature the piece ‘Traversal’ for organ, computer and Second Life.
Traversal for Organ, Computer, and Second Life Traversal is a composition exploring connectivity between worlds. As the name implies, it is a temporary link between the live organ in Sursa Hall and the virtual world of Second Life. “Physical” actions and events in the virtual realm compose the work in real time, and the end product being a physical and aural realization of virtual performance. Jesse Allison – Composer/Programmer John Fillwalk – 3d modeling Nick Johnson – Performer Jake Baxter – Performer
The Music Technology department will be hosting an electronic music concert, EM|One, on Tuesday, September 23rd at 8:00pm in Sursa Hall. The concert will feature members of the IDIAA performing music remotely through Second Life for a live audience located in Sursa Hall.
Displaced Resonance, an interactive sound installation developed by IDIA Faculty Fellow, Dr. Mike Pounds, will be shown at Mitchell Place Studio during the Downtown Muncie Arts Walk. The Arts Walk will be on Thursday, April 3 and runs from 5-8 PM.
A press conference took place within Second Life presenting the virtual film studios and campus developed as part of IDIA’s Online Mediated Curriculum Project. The presentation was on Thursday, March 20th at 10 AM and was attended by President Jo Ann M. Gora and other BSU Administrators.
IDIA’s Online Mediated Curriculum Project has recently been awarded a $25,000 grant by Blackboard, Inc. The Greenhouse Grant for Virtual Worlds was awarded to IDIA for its virtual film studio within in the realm of Second Life. The grant was awarded due to the project’s adaptive release features between Blackboard and Second Life.
For more information visit this link: http://www.blackboard.com/company/press/release.aspx?id=1109469
IDIA will be presenting an interactive 3D game developed by students participating in its Immersion Seminar this Thursday, February 7 at Mitchell Place Studios during the Downtown Muncie Arts Walk. Works created by animation and electronic arts students will be showcased as well. The Arts Walk runs from 5-8 on the first Thursday of each month.
IDIA’s Online Mediated Curriculum Project has recently been awarded a $25,000 grant by Blackboard, Inc. The Greenhouse Grant for Virtual Worlds was awarded to IDIA for its virtual film studio within in the realm of Second Life. The grant was awarded due to the project’s adaptive release features between Blackboard and Second Life.
Students participating in IDIA’s Immersion Seminar were named as a winner for an Award of Excellence at the International Digital Media and Arts Association (iDMAa) 2007 National Conference. The award included a $250 cash prize and was presented to only two groups out of the twelve universities participating in the conference’s student showcase. The International Digital Media & Arts Association hosted the Ideas 07: Beyond Boundaries conference in Philadelphia on November 7-11. The project allows the user to manipulate a digital world with wireless objects. Through the use of Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID), the virtual world can detect the presence of real-world objects and use them to manipulate its own attributes. In the case of this project, physical cubes link the user with virtual cubes within the system and allow the user to call up media such as video and sound. The system uses the software Quest 3D for real-time VR rendering and interactive animation, and MaxMSP for harvesting and inputting RFID data. Additionally, users can navigate the 3D virtual world with the use of a trackball. The project will be on display at the BSU Mitchel Place Studio December 6 during the downtown Artswalk.
Idylls, a video and music composition directed by IDIA Director, John Fillwalk, was recently named the Best Short Film of the 2007 Harvest Moon Film Festival. Idylls, created in collaboration with composer Joseph Harckanko, is an impressionistic montage, looking to the traveling Midwestern carnival as a transformative environment. Harvest Moon is a film festival showcasing the works of Midwestern filmmakers and/or works focusing on the Midwest.
IDIA Faculty Fellow, Jesse Allison, is currently developing an interactive art installation for the Great Ideas Competition. This installation will be displayed in the Arts Garden of Circle Centre Mall in downtown Indianapolis.
Using our MakerBot Replicator 2X 3D printer, IDIA’s Chris Harrison worked with David Rodriguez to create a family of 3 brackets with varying uses and advantages to mount a Leap Motion Controller to the front of an Oculus Rift DK2.
Finding that double sided tape was not doing a very effective job of holding the Leap Motion Controller in place, we looked around Makerbot’s Thingiverse, an online warehouse of 3D print-ready objects, for a solution.
We found a bracket which when printed didn’t quite meet the tolerances of the Leap’s dimensions, and so some slight modifications were made to better accommodate it. In addition, rather than the 2-piece configuration on the website, a new bracket was made to be printed in one single pass.
Finally, after realizing other potential uses for the Leap, 2 more brackets were designed and printed so that the Leap can be securely installed onto the Oculus in a total of 3 different configurations.
The brackets can be viewed and downloaded here:
Bracket 1 Straight bracket used for visual IR passthrough from Leap camera
Bracket 2 Straight bracket used to minimize Oculus IR emitter occlusion
Bracket 3 Angles backet used to track hands with best angle – if no passthrough is desired
View a Oculus / Leap project here: https://idialab.org/oculus-rift-and-leap-motion-demo/