Virtual reality
Aperçu des sections
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Virtual Reality
Presential course in INF2 by R. Boulic with one Lecture by Dr Bruno Herbelin on May 6th(the use of the webinar is limited to the presentation course of the first week)see the detailed schedule below for the the type of activity during the 10-13h time rangethe course plans 5 weeks of VR hands-on with coding work (--2h/week) from weeks 3 to 9 of the semester. For this reason, the 1h of exercise from 12h to 13h is used for teaching for the first 2 weeks whereas there will be less time of lecture during the weeks 4 to 9 period.
The paper study is an individual work starting on week2 with a deadline on week6.
The project is written in C# on UNITY3D ; it starts on week 3 where groups of 3 persons are formed and can retrieve their Oculus Quest HMD(s) on a first-come first-served basis; we only have 19 of them (half Oculus Quest and half Quest2) for spring 2025. The project pitch is planned on week 5 after the Oculus Quest hands-on. The project ends on week 13.
GRADING SCHEME (spring 2025)
- The paper study grade has a weight of 15% ; you will know your grade before the final theoretical oral (see below)
- The project assignment has a weight of 50% that includes a project oral evaluation conducted in presential (with individual questions on the code).
- The individual theoretical oral control during week 14 has a weight of 35% (the duration is 15 minutes / closed books / the first third of the oral exam is presenting a summary of the paper study and the rest consists of questions on related VR theoretical concepts)) . The theoretical oral exam will be conducted in presential during the whole week 14.
DETAILED SCHEDULE for spring 2025
The SPOT staff reminded us that the borrowed HMD have to be given back latest at 19h45 at the welcome desk - The paper study grade has a weight of 15% ; you will know your grade before the final theoretical oral (see below)
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Feb. 17th [1h course presentation and embodied VR concepts +2h about perception]
10h15 :R. Boulic : Course structure including a brief overview of the 5 hands-on demos, the paper study and the project
R. Boulic : VR as "Embodied Interaction"
11h15: R. Boulic 1h: Feeding human senses through "Immersion"
12h15: R. Boulic 1h: Depth Perception
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You will be able to select the paper you want to study by registering soon below to the "paper study group" with the number of the first authors' name on the first page.
Carefully read the abstracts before choosing a paper as you cannot revert your choice.
You can join only one group => one paper to study (alone) ; it's not a work to do with the potential other person choosing the same paper to study. We'll run the plagiarism detection tool to check such issue. -
reminder: choose MAXIMUM 1 group / the paper study work is individual. The word "group" comes from the moodle interface design ; it just means the maximum number of person choosing a specific paper.
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February 24th : Project background material [2h20 teaching by Betül Güres; 0h20 by Dylan Vairoli] from now on, without webinar ; recorded video from previous year will be visible after the course period
Betül Güres : Introduction to game designBetül Güres: Game: Play testing
Betül Güres : VR systems and project presentation together with Dylan Vairoli
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You are free to define your project group, at the latest on Monday March 3rd 23h55. (week 3)
We expect a standard group size of four people ; the groups of 3 persons will be completed to 4 persons after the above deadline if needed. Consider checking this guide of good practices for team work.
Details can be found in the pdf document "VR Project Guidelines", which can be found within this topic2.
Once your group is registered, it is important to brainstorm your ideas with the group and come up with a short document that provides the details of your game idea. This document should be uploaded in the assignment "VR Project Pitch Proposal (Max. 2-Page)" (see Topic 5) until friday march 14th (23h55). We encourage you to upload your pitch before March 14th to receive the appropriate feedback for your project. -
Alternatively, check ho1.md in the class repository.
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March 4th [2h teaching and 1h UNITY intro]
R. Boulic 1h: How much Immersion is necessary ? what is he difference between Immersion and Presence ? and Flow ?
R. Boulic 1h: Cybersickness
Hands-on HO1 Week3-
The game design document is not graded ; it will be used to provide better feedback during the pitch session.
Please Mark your group_id in the pdf name and your document title.
One person per group make the submission
We recommend that you follow the format of the GDD example document (Moodle > topic 2)
You should include the following bullet points (please carefully read the project guidelines and make sure you precise how your project will fit the requirements of the project):
1. Game background description. (e.g. narrative (if any), game world (if any))
2. Basic gameplay (e.g. the goal of the game)
3. Game mechanism ( e.g. the core game mechanism, key interactions, etc)
4. Locomotion style.
5. Designs to avoid cybersickness (Optional).
6. Other features (User interface, Sound & Effects).
We recommend that you use drawings or other forms of graphical representation to convey your idea more efficiently. Try to keep your GDD concise, a maximum of 5 pages is a good reference.
For the pitch session (3min presentation + 2min feedback), please prepare a presentation slide (maximum 5 pages).
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Please make a single choice PER GROUP
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March 10th [3h TP with own laptop and HMDs]
Hands-on HO2 Week4
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March 17th [1h teaching/ 2h pitch]
R. Boulic : Basic 3D interaction techniques: Magic vs NaturalismProject Pitch : sign-up and upload of the game design document are above ; 3min pitch + 2min feedbackGIVEN THAT THERE ARE LESS GROUPS COMPARED TO LAST YEAR, WE'LL START THE PITCH AT 11H15 ACCORDING TO THE TABLE BELOW (with a 10 min shift compared to the selected slot). -
March 25 th [1h teaching / 2h TP]
R. Boulic 1h : Basic 3D interaction techniques: Magic vs Naturalism (part 4)
The paper study is due this week ; you can upload it with Turnitin below :
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April 8th [1h teaching, the initially planned 2h TP]
R. Boulic 1h : Haptic interfaces (part1 & 2)
Hands-on HO4 week7
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April 15 th [1h teaching / 2h peer assessment of basic interactions]
R. Boulic : Haptic Interfaces (part3) / The perception and Action (Part 1/2)
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April 14 th [45 min]
R. Boulic : The perception and action (end)
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April 28th [45 min]
R. Boulic: What makes an interactive virtual human alive (or plain zombies) ? (Part 1/3 & 2/3)-
updated with short overview on the mocap topic.
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May 5th [45 min]
R. Boulic: Motion capture (short overview added to the slides of Part 2/3)
What makes a virtual human alive (Part 3/3) -
May 12 th [2h teaching] invited lecture from Dr Bruno Herbelin (Senior researcher in EPFL Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory)
B. Herbelin: Immersive Virtual Reality, Telepresence and their cognitive foundation / Embodied Virtual Reality (course material from B Herbelin from EPFL-LNCO)
The slides from Bruno Herbelin have been made visible below ; the video recording are not up to date but can be partially useful as the slides do not include any video.
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May 19th : Playtesting 10h-13h before uploading final version on Sunday 25th midnight
This assessment session helps to gather some playtesting feedback from other players that are not members of your group. It will help to refine some aspects before the final upload of the project later in the week. Today, you can continue to finalize your project but we highly recommend that you take advantage of the presence of other groups' members to invite them to test your game (even partially) before/after the assigned student-assistant visits you.
For the test by the student-assistant, it is on a first-ready, first-tested basis ; so meet them at the beginning of the session to discuss your preferred time range for the test of your game. If you didn't proactively set any test time range the student-assistants will decide themselves when they visit you before 13h.
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The deadline for submitting the final version of the project is on May 25 at 23:59.
The submission, only one per group, must contain your team's GitHub repository, the build of the game, the report, and a video of the project.Submission item list:
Build of the game
We will directly upload your builds (i.e., games) in the .apk format to HMDs to evaluate your games.
You can build your game for any of:
- Quest 1
- Quest2
- Quest 3 (not Quest 3S!)
GitHub repository
We should be able to rebuild your game only based on the sources you provided to us.
It should contain a Readme.md file at the root detailing:- Produced scripts and assets: Created entirely by your team.
- Adapted scripts/assets: Modified from external sources.
- Unmodified scripts/assets: Used as-is.
- Relevant content (scripts, assets, scenes) for each custom feature.
Report (.pdf file)
- Synopsis: A brief summary of the game, including an illustration (e.g., a screenshot).
- Scenario description: Concisely outline the game’s narrative or progression.
- Interaction descriptions: Explain implemented interactions, including:
- How to trigger them
- Their functionality and feedback
- A brief description of the implementation (diagrams are highly appreciated)
- Playtesting feedback: Summarize player feedback and any resulting changes, especially regarding motion sickness or complexity.
- Focus areas: Highlight graphical care, sound design, thematic elements, or other crucial development aspects.
- Team contributions: Describe each group member’s contribution.
- Acknowledgments: Optionally mention playtesters, friends, family, or external resources.
Length requirement: No more than 7 double-column pages or 10 single-column pages.
Video of the project
This should be a short video ( <5 mins) showing a full run of the game. We don't expect a trailer with special effects.
Please upload your demo on YouTube and include the link to it.
N.B. Let us know in case you do not want it to be posted on any video-sharing platform (fatma-betul.gures@epfl.ch)Submission method
The submission must be a single .zip archive file named 2025_cs444_XX.zip, where XX is the group number and must contain the following items:
- ./build.apk : the build
- ./links.txt : the links to the GitHub repository and the demo video hosted on YouTube
- ./report.pdf : the report
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May 26th: as the 3h available time won't be sufficient, the Final Individual Oral Exams for theory will be spread during May 26-28th in presential in INJ 141. A time slot selection tool will be made visible here on May 19th, after the paper study grades are provided.
The Project Group Presentation will be held on the 26th of May in presential in INF220.
The additional individual oral on the project code (smoke detector) will be on 28th of May (zoom link:https://epfl.zoom.us/my/fatma.betul.gures).-
Please make a single choice PER GROUP
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In case you have another oral the same day, avoid overlap and plan sufficient time between the two events as they might be located in different buildings. Any delay will be penalized.
