Art and Architecture of Virtual Maps and Environments
Code: 104755 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2503873 Interactive Communication | OT | 4 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Hector Angulo Perez
- Email:
- hector.angulo@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.
Prerequisites
It is recommended to bring your own laptop.
Objectives and Contextualisation
Learn to create competitive scenarios for virtual reality and augmented reality products, using industry-standard software (Blender, Quixel, Unity).
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Act within one's own area of knowledge, evaluating sex/gender-based inequalities.
- Apply and integrate knowledge in the fields of social sciences, humanities and engineering to generate complex products and services tailored to citizens' needs.
- Design and create aesthetically pleasing, usable interfaces based on users' needs.
- Determine and plan the technological infrastructure necessary for the creation, storage, analysis and distribution of interactive multimedia and social-networking products.
- Devise, create, activate and integrate virtual and augmented-reality spaces, characters and objects.
- Display the ability to lead, negotiate and work in a team.
- Introduce changes in the methods and processes of the field of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and demands of society.
- Manage time efficiently and plan for short-, medium- and long-term tasks.
- Search for, select and rank any type of source and document that is useful for creating messages, academic papers, presentations, etc.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse a situation and identify its points for improvement.
- Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
- Create geographies or maps that act as interfaces and allow users to interact with games.
- Create virtual spaces using suitable software and efficient visibility techniques.
- Cross-check information to establish its veracity, using evaluation criteria.
- Design objects that combine aesthetic norms with perfect technical functionality.
- Distinguish the salient features in all types of documents within the subject.
- Form part of groups working on virtual-production projects.
- Interpret and discuss documents on the main theories on virtual environments.
- Plan and execute academic projects in the field of virtual environment theory.
- Present a summary of the studies made, orally and in writing.
- Propose new methods or well-founded alternative solutions.
- Propose projects and actions that are in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and obligations, diversity and democratic values.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Show expertise in operating the relevant computer programmes.
- Submit course assignments on time, showing the individual and/or group planning involved.
- Use the virtual spaces created as narrative contexts.
- Weigh up the risks and opportunities of both one's own and other people's proposals for improvement.
Content
1. Creation of indoor and outdoor scenarios
2. Creation of materials and their properties
3. Creating modular props in Blender
4. Texturing in Quixel Mixer
5. Integration in Unity 3D
Methodology
This subject places greater emphasis on the practical and project components compared to the theoretical part. The practical and project work will be conducted in supervised working sessions with the professor, including work demonstrations, submission of reports and documentation, and independent work carried out individually or in groups by the students.
THEORY: Theoretical classes will be conducted in a lecture format with materials provided in advance through the virtual campus. These classes will cover theoretical concepts (creation of exterior and interior scenarios, theory of materials, and visual effects) as well as practical aspects (Blender, Quixel, and Unity) of the subject. Despite being theory-based classes, a significant portion of the session will be dedicated to individually or group-wise solving problems presented by the professor. It is recommended to have a laptop for these sessions.
PRACTICALS: Practical exercises will involve different scenario cases in groups of three, where students will be given a description and will need to implement and present a solution using Blender and Unity. These practical cases will require the application of concepts explained in the theory classes.
PROJECT: Midway through the course, students will be assigned a project proposal to develop a suitable environment for a Virtual and/or Augmented Reality application, which will be carried out over a period of six weeks in groups of three or four. Students may also propose their own projects. During class sessions, students will engage in supervised group work guided by the professor and will be required to make periodic submissions of documentation (reports, controls). On the last day of class, each group will deliver an oral presentation of their project, having previously submitted a report on the work done.
NOTE: 15 minutes of a class, as per the schedule established by the institution/program, will be reserved for students to complete evaluations of the teachingperformance and the course/module.
PROJECT: In this section, it is intended that students, in groups of five to six, fully develop a Virtual and/or Augmented Reality project. The operating rules and evaluation criteria for the project are detailed in the FUNCTIONING document, accessible through the Virtual Campus. Class sessions will be dedicated to group project work. On the first day, a couple of project proposals will be offered, from which students must choose or propose one that aligns with the objectives of the subject. Once the project is decided, students will need to define the tasks to be carried out and assign them to each group member. During this initial meeting, a report will be written to document the work conducted in the meeting and the tasks assigned to each group member. This report will be uploaded to the Virtual Campus. Each supervised project session will involve working on the project, with each student reporting on the assigned tasks from the previous session. Possible solutions or alternatives to the assigned tasks will be discussed, and ultimately, agreements will be reached and new tasks will be assigned to each student for the next session. The corresponding report will be sent to the Virtual Campus after each supervised session.
COMPETENCIES: The objective is for students to acquire the following competencies (in addition to those specified in section 5):
- Develop strategies for autonomous learning.
- Demonstrate organizational and planning skills.
- Possess problem-solving abilities.
SOFTWARE: The same as in the practical exercises.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Theory sessions | 15 | 0.6 | 5, 7, 8, 9 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Practicum | 12 | 0.48 | 4, 3, 6, 15, 9, 10, 16, 17 |
| Project | 21 | 0.84 | 4, 3, 6, 15, 11, 9, 10, 17 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Autonomous work practicum | 39 | 1.56 | 4, 3, 6, 15, 11, 9, 10, 16, 17 |
| Study for evaluatiion | 15 | 0.6 | 5, 7, 9 |
| Work on Practicum | 12 | 0.48 | 1, 2, 4, 6, 15, 8, 10, 18, 16, 12, 14, 17 |
Assessment
Evaluation
The evaluation activities that can be scored out of 10 are the following:
a) Theory test (20% of the final grade)
b) Delivery of practical work (20% of the final mark)
c) Practical work (project) (40% of the final grade)
d) Attendance and participation in the project sessions (10% of the final grade)
e) Oral presentation of work (10% of the final mark)
This subject does not provide for the single assessment system.
For the calculation of the final grade, each of the assessment activities must have a grade greater than 5.
The mark for remedial activities will be graded with a maximum of 8. Students who have passed an assessment activity can present themselves for remedial work and in this case the mark will be assessed with a maximum of 10. The maximum will be taken into account note of the two assessments.
In the event that the student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an assessment act, this assessment act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be instituted. In the event that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.
TEAMWORK:
Once the group is formed, it will have a maximum of 20 days to request a substantial modification due to incompatibilities, either its dissolution or an alternative assessment. This will consist of an adaptation of the work according to the number of members of the group, it can also be individual. Failure to accept the terms of the work will result in the immediate suspension of the same.
RECOVERY:
The student will have the right to retake the exam as long as he/she has passed the 3.5 grade and it is lower than 5. The same criterion will apply to all the practicalwork or projects that the student has completed during the course . To pass the subject you must have a minimum of 5 in all the assessable content.
SECOND REGISTRATION:
In the case of a second registration, the student will be able to take a single summary test which will consist of a content check and some practical exercises. The grade of the subject will correspond to the grade of the synthesis test. The student who wants to take this synthesis test must notify the subject coordinator in writing.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assistance and participation in project sessions | 0.1 | 24 | 0.96 | 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 18, 16, 12, 13, 14 |
| Individual Continuous evaluation on theory | 0.2 | 3 | 0.12 | 6, 11, 9, 10, 13 |
| Practicum evaluation | 0.2 | 3 | 0.12 | 6, 11, 9, 10, 13 |
| Project evaluation | 0.5 | 6 | 0.24 | 1, 2, 5, 4, 3, 7, 6, 15, 11, 8, 9, 10, 18, 16, 12, 13, 14, 17 |
Bibliography
- https://www.blender.org/ (Blender)
- https://quixel.com/mixer (Quixel Mixer)
- https://unity.com/ (Unity3D)
Software
• Unity, graphic engine to develop videojocs and interactive and immersive applications.
• Blender, 3D contingut creator software to make models and animations of the mateixos.
• Quixel Mixer, industry standardized 3D model texturing software.
• Krita, layer and image editing software.