Click at the image to watch a short
video presentation
Click
here to enter the Virtual Campus
Email
if you have any problems with accessing it
Scenes of the Virtual Campus
Have Fun with FVRML / FX3D
How to make your avatar
Credits
Virtual Campus is a shared virtual world of the real campus of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. It is built with VRML and Blaxxun Contact communication platform. The Virtual Campus can be accessed from any Internet-connected personal computer running MS Windows and Internet Explorer. The real NTU campus occupies the area of 1.5x2.0 km with very uneven terrain, and has a large number of buildings with quite sophisticated architecture.
To access it:
First, install VRML plug-in Blaxxun
Contact
Next,
install
BS Contact VRML/X3D
If you are using MS Internet Explorer 7
in
Tools/Internet Options/Advanced click at
Restore Advanced Settings and
in
Tools/Internet Options/Security click at
Reset All Zones to Default Level.
Also increase the maximum
size of the Virtual Memory in Control Panel:
System / Advanced / Performance / Advanced / Virtual Memory -> change
to the maximum value.
Click
here
to make a test
Finally,
click to visit the Virtual Campus
Upon arrival, right-click on the screen and make sure that you selected Direct 3D hardware acceleration (if available) in Settings/Preferences. A guide to navigation within 3D scene can be found here.
Various scenes of the Virtual Campus
Have fun with FVRML / FX3D and visit Collaborative Shape Modeling Lab
FVRML and FX3D allow for extending VRML and its successor X3D with practically any type of object’s geometry, sophisticated graphics appearance and transformation by defining them analytically straight in the VRML/X3D code. In contrast to the polygon-based models of VRML and X3D, function-based nodes allow for a great reduction of the model sizes and provide an unlimited level of detail. Also, these nodes introduce to VRML/X3D set-theoretic as well as any other operations analytically-defined by the user.
Collaborative Shape Modeling Lab is a part of the Virtual Campus developed to help computer graphics students to understand concepts of functionally-based shape modeling.
How to make your own avatar
You may either select the avatar in the member's profile or use a URL from the web. The avatar file must have an extension *.wrl. A few places where you can find these URLs follow:
- http://vrml.alleyweb.co.uk/index.html
- http://www.avatara.com/avatars/index.html
- http://www.vrprincesskj.com/avatarframe.htm
- http://www4.tpg.com.au/users/gperrett/avs/
- http://catilaporte.com/VRML/
- http://www.chez.com/kiki1/avatars/avatars.htm
If you want to create your own avatar, search the web for Avatar Studio v. 2 (Canal+ and Blaxxun versions). With the Avatar Studio you can built your own avatar using the available templates and modifying their parameters. With this software, you may also use a digital photo to make a facial texture of the avatar. A few places where you can find Avatar Studio follow:
- http://www.vrmlworlds.com/software/avatarstudio
- http://www.web3d-fr.com/Avatars/AvatarStudio/Download.php
Principal Investigator: Alexei Sourin
The Team (1997-currently):
Olga Sourina,
Lai Feng Min, Grace Tan, Yee Yew Loong, Daniel Ng, Benjamin Tan, Tong Chee Hua, Chok Ing Kiat, Tan Teck Wee,
Clara
Chua, Kelvin Lim, Kuo Yien Kee, Lin Jia Wen, Teo Hwee Seong, Tan Pee Loon, Sharifah Khalilah
Jelany,
Sheikh Dawood bin Abdul Ajees, Sabrina Quek Junying, Chua Zhi Mian, Neo Kin Hong
Harry.
Publications and Links:
-
E.Prasolova-Førland, A.Sourin, O.Sourina. Cybercampuses: Design Issues and Future Directions. The Visual Computer, Springer, 2006;22(12):1015-1028.
-
E. Prasolova-Forland, A.Sourin, O.Sourina. Place Metaphors in Educational Cyberworlds: a Virtual Campus Case Study. Proc 2005 Int Conf on Cyberworlds, CW2005. pp. 221-228, 2005.
-
A.Sourin, O.Sourina, E.Prasolova-Førland. Cyber-learning in Cyberworlds. Journal of Cases on Information Technology (JCIT), 2006;8(4):55-70.
-
Alexei Sourin, Computer Graphics. From a Small Formula to Cyberworlds, Prentice Hall, Singapore, ISBN 9810675518, 362 pages, 2005.
-
A.Sourin, From a Small Formula to Cyberworlds (Invited Talk), Proc of Int Conf on Computational Science and Applications ICCSA 2005, Singapore, May 9-12, 2005, LNCS, Springer, ISSN 0302-9743, 983-992.
-
A.Sourin. Virtual Campus - It is Fun and Educational. Leonardo Electronic Almanac. MIT. Vol 13, No 6-7, June - July 2005
-
A.Sourin. Computer Graphics. From a Small Formula to Virtual Worlds, Pearson Prentice Hall, Singapore, ISBN 981-244-743-1, 280 pages, 2004.
-
A.Sourin, Nanyang Technological University Virtual Campus, IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications, 24:6, 2004, 6-8.
-
A.Sourin, K.Levinski, Qi Liu, Virtual Campus--It is Fun and Educational, Proceedings of MAAP 2004, Singapore, 27-28 October, 2004.