BVW stands for Building Virtual Worlds, a course that all first year students entering the ETC specializing in creating project teams made of art and computer science backgrounds in 5 rounds of two week crunch projects in a single semester.
Our project is an investment in the students who have not even been accepted into the ETC program yet, our goal is to create a better experience for those students by repairing, improving, and building a better foundation for next fall's class. We recognize that a large percentage of creative energy is spent by students on technical barriers our goal is to reduce that effort so that future projects can focus on achieving their design metrics.
With ever thing we do we ask ourselves two questions:
How hard is it to do?
How much benefit will it be to the course?
Originally proposed as a project to work on improving the HMD (Head Mount Displays) platform in Building Virtual Worlds, the project has since evolved into a much broader scope that encompasses what is needed throughout the entire course as a whole.
Aspects of BVW that we are working on include:
• Creating a more robust Jam-O-Drum
• Integrating Pyrex into Panda3D
• Overhauling the BVW website
• Build mobile HMD carts
• Building new props and sensors for BVW
• Exploring new platforms for BVW
We are currently searching for new platforms, inexpensive HMD solutions, sensors that can be used in BVW projects, and unique input devices for entrance into virtual realities.
We are always taking suggestions for improving BVW and ideas for new platforms to explore. We can be reached at: