Final Project Handout

CS137 November/December

1. Dates

2. Goals

1. Combine the many design aspects we’ve explored thus far into a cohesive whole

2. Become more expert in the design space of the Cave

3. Refine your understanding of fluid flow

4. Work with real scientific data

5. Understand how your ideas fit in with what’s been done in the research community

3. Design Criteria

Your final project proposal should clearly have:

1. A conceptually and visually cohesive theme. Your model should be comfortable at least and possibly thrilling or soothing to experience. An overall intuitive connection with fluid flow in the sense of place and the phenomena that are documented is definitely desirable.

2. An appropriate scope for the time frame of the rest of the semester. As indicated in the schedule above, we are going to be running on tight deadlines. If a stage of the task is finished, move on. Any time we might save will be useful at the end for tweaking and revision.

3. A Larger Scope Or Direction Beyond What Can Be Realized. Although our primary task is to realize these designs in the Cave as it is currently configured, a larger goal is to ultimately suggest extensions of the cave’s possibilities. These can be suggested in project descriptions that accompany the model, or by the inclusion of a virtual or physical tool that doesn’t really function but suggest an interesting “what if”. There must be a functioning toolset as well, however.

4. A realistic plan for implementation (see below) with weekly measurable milestones. It would be good to keep track of your pace as the weeks progress. If it is taking too long to achieve certain aspects of your model, you might want to anticipate running out of time at the end, and simplify your plan.

5. Specific intermediate results to present for group crits in the class schedule: See the calendar page for specifics.

6. An optimally functional interaction component: Your final model should respond to the user on a comfortable and intuitive basis, according to principles we have discussed in the first half of the course. It should also, of course, work.

7. An optimally functional visual component: Your design should be easily legible and interpretable, making effective use of formal metaphor and color. Transformations of color and icons in relation to data variation should have an intuitive visual legibility.

8. A scientific component, showing things important to our main scientific user: Sharon Swartz. This is of course, the whole point, but will be difficult to determine absolutely in advance. We will integrate input from our scientist collaborators into the design process.

You should build on all of the work that we’ve done in the assignments, wherever applicable.

Below is a rough schedule of classes for the rest of the semester, with an indexed set of milestones for your project designs.  There will obviously be roadblocks and mis-starts that may alter this schedule. But we must try to establish a pace that will get us to functioning models by semester’s end.

10/28
due: Project Topics. Hand in list of 5-7 project proposal topics. Think broadly, don’t develop too much. Give each of your proposed topics a score based on the project criteria above.

11/1
due: Individual Proposals. Final interface designs including plans for physical toolset, virtual tools designs, interaction and navigation metaphors. See below for details.

11/2
due: Browse through other Project Proposals.

11/4
due: CHECK CALENDAR PAGE!

11/9
due: CHECK CALENDAR PAGE!

11/11
due: CHECK CALENDAR PAGE!

11/16
due: CHECK CALENDAR PAGE!

11/18
due: CHECK CALENDAR PAGE!

11/22
due: CHECK CALENDAR PAGE!

11/25
THANKSGIVING! due: CHECK CALENDAR PAGE!

11/30
due: CHECK CALENDAR PAGE! Also...Outlines for final report, final abstract, and final presentation to be reviewed by Rethoric Fellow. Schedule meetings before 12/2 to review all outlines.

12/2
due: Final abstracts to Rethoric Fellow. Schedule presentation practice before 12/8

12/7
due: Presentation practice scheduled. Abstract back from Rethoric Fellow

12/9
due: Project Presentations. From now on, there should be two versions of your final report reviewed by the Rethoric Fellow before you hand in on 12/17. Follow the Schedule in the calendar page.

12/17
Final Report due, Holiday Ho-down?

4. Assignment for 11/1

Project Concept Sketches: Topics

Simple drawn plan or written description for the following aspects of your project:

• Basic environment: visual metaphor for the scene: e.g. Bright and punchy; fluid dream; star trek 2004; undersea nightmare, etc. Role for overall color, texture and spatial character.

• Basic physical interface objects: gloves, harnesses, sensors, shoes, helmets, wands, palm pilots, knobs, buttons, etc

• Basic virtual toolset: maps, palettes, pickers, virtual wands, surrogate hands, selection lassos, filters, floating happy faces,  porpoise buddies etc.

• Basic genre of icons and data coding: streamlines vs. “toys”; color vs. 3D texture;

• Basic interaction mode: particle emitter vs. constant flow; filling the void or pruning the jungle; role for animation, alternate viewing modes, snapshots, saved views etc.

The point is to give us an idea what you’re thinking, not to fully flesh everything out. You can refer to aspects of your previous designs. We’re looking for an overall coherence to the plan at this stage, rather than particulars.