A 3D Interactive Model of the Carleton Campus
Advisor: Jack Goldfeather
Meeting time: TTh 3:10-4:55pm (Fall/Winter term)
Final Results
The Berkeley Campus
Background
Creating and displaying interactive virtual worlds is one of the most exciting applications of computer graphics. The first step is to build software that uses controls (mouse/keyboard/joystick/etc.) for geometric transformation (i.e. translation, rotation and zoom) of objects in three dimensions. This software is then used in two ways:
- To select and drag "primitive" geometric shapes from a library to use as building blocks for more complex shapes, which are, in turn, combined together into a virtual environment.
- To allow the user to move around in this environment.
For example, the image above shows a model of the Berkeley campus of the University of California designed in this manner.
The Project
Your tasks will include:
- Choose and design the primitives in the library (e.g. blocks, cones, pyramids, etc.)
- Build the geometric transformation and display software and integrate it with the primitive library. You will use the OpenGL graphics library, a very sophisticated tool for transforming and rendering 3D objects.
- Use this software to build a model of (part of) the Carleton campus.
- Design and implement controls to "walk around" the virtual campus. This may include collision detection to prevent you from walking through walls.
Students working on this project will need to know or be willing to learn a little mathematics, e.g. matrix multiplication and vectors in 3D.
Links
- OpenGl Programming Guide
- OpenGl Reference Manual
- JoGL OpenGl Documentation
- Further work with Berkeley Model This is something that might be done by a future comps group after the model is designed.