Csci 394 Virtual Reality Exam #1

14 March 2005

 

1.    (20 points)  Describe the Sensorama of Martin Heilig.  Explain how this is like the Holodeck on Star Trek, and how it differs.  Why aren’t we closer to a Holodeck today, given that the Sensorama was built in the early 1960’s?  List the problems that need to be solved.  Choose one difference and describe it in detail.  Discuss techniques for implementing this feature in a virtual world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.    (15 points)  There are several basic techniques available for real time tracking of head and other body parts.  Name and briefly describe three different techniques.  Be sure and give the pro’s and con’s of each, and include any restrictions to their use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.    (15 points) Vision is perhaps the dominant human sense.  Describe three different visual display systems for viewing a virtual world.  Be sure to include the strengths and weaknesses of each method, and describe the types of virtual worlds where each would be most appropriate to use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.    (20 points)Lag is a problem in virtual environments.  Describe the places in a virtual reality system where lag occurs.  What steps can be taken to minimize lag?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.    (15 points) Describe two techniques for interacting with objects in a virtual world (selection, manipulation, etc).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.    (15 points) Many VR toolkits represent the world as a scene graph.  Describe what this is, and explain why it is useful for representing virtual environments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonus: (10 points) At a recent athletics meeting, five old acquaintances: Fred, Greta, Hans, Iolo and Jan met together for the first time since leaving college, so they had a lot of news to catch up on.
It seemed they all lived in different towns: Acton, Buswick, Coalford, Derby and Eccles; and that they all had different jobs which were, in no particular order: an engineer, a lawyer, a teacher, a doctor and a shopkeeper.
To round it off, each one was the winner in just one event at the meeting. These were: 100 metres, 400 metres, 1500 metres, High Jump and Javelin.
The following facts were also known:
1. Hans the shopkeeper from Derby won the High Jump.
2. The lawyer was from Eccles and said he was not a runner.
3. Greta was P.E. teacher from Buswick and won the 1500 metres
4. The doctor, who came from Acton, did not win the 100 metres.
5. The person from Derby was not an engineer.
6. Iolo was an engineer from Coalford and did not win the 400 metres.
7. Jan was not a lawyer, but did win the the 400 metres.
8. Fred did not come from Acton and was not a runner.

(a)   Which event did the person from Coalford win?


(b) Which town did Jan come from?


(c) What was the name of the lawyer?


(d) Which event did the engineer win?


(e) Which event did Fred win?