December 7, 2000
10 a.m. to Noon
Student Technology Center, Room 503
IU Main Library (undergraduate side)
The explosion of digitally available 2-D information is driving the need for more wholistic, effective, efficient, and natural user interfaces to intelligently support access to information, applications and people. Accordingly, three dimensional (3-D) information access and visualization is slated to rapidly become the "wave of our internet future."
To explore this exciting potential, Dr. Katy Borner's User Interface Design (L578) students have been working all semester long with 3-D cutting-edge technology. As part of their course assignments, students learned to create a "world" in a 3-D information universe, known as iUniverse. (View an iUniverse Picture Gallery.)
Using the Active Worlds Eduverse downloadable Browser, students learned basic user interface design principles by using JavaScript, web design tools such as Fireworks, a 3D Virtual Reality Chat, and 3-D technology to design, develop, implement, and evaluate collaborative 2-D and 3-D environments.
In the resulting world, clicking on an object or walking over and area triggers a different webpage to be displayed. Conversely, users can click links on a webpage and they are automatically teleported to the corresponding place in a 3-D world. This simultaneous toggling capability opens a wide and exciting range of possibilities to connect 2-D images, text, forms etc. with 3-D objects and places.
Exposure to spatial metaphors in 3-D worlds and the fusion of 2-D and 3-D gives students an advantage in the selection of appropriate media and the design of intuitive and efficient user interfaces to prepare them for the things to come.
Some of the student projects that will be on display are:
The Natural Disasters area is constructed to be a tornado learning environment.
Science house is designed as a virtual dictionary of the science behind everyday household objects. Click on objects to read about what makes them work.
Quest Atlantis was created as a place where young children who belong to the Boys and Girls club in Bloomington, Indiana can interact in a collaborative manner as well as explore the site on their own. Take a Quest Atlantis 2-D tour!
4) Virtual Collaboration VC-3D
Virtual Collaboration is a virtual meeting space for business persons. VC-3D eventually plans to incorporate streaming video and streaming audio. Currently it allows people around the world to go online and conduct a business meeting, keep meeting minutes through real-time chat, all while "building" diagrams or flowcharts in a 3-D environment. Take a Virtual Collaboration 2-D tour!
5) Art Caf
Art Cafe has a relaxing atmosphere and allows you to "walk" into a virtual space, to view computer-generated and photographic art exhibitions, and to chat with visitors around the world in real time. You can also participate in Special Events in the Art Cafe house.
Visitors are welcome to join an "iUniverse Party" where Borner's students will be demonstrating their class projects on December 7th, from 10 a.m. to noon in the Student Technology Center, Room 503, on the undergraduate side of the Main Library. (Bring a set of headphones, if you have them.)
Virtual visitors can also take part in the iUniverse demonstration via Webcast. You will need the latest version of RealPlayer.
(NOTE: Recently Dr. Borner taught the iUniverse class from the floor of the Dallas Supercomputing 2000 conference in early November. View digital images from the conference.)
December 8, 2000 link addition:
See a RealPlayer archived version of a webcast of the iUniverse Party...
http://strvid1.iu.edu:8080/ramgen/slis/iuniverse_120700.rm
Posted December 05, 2000