From HIT Lab Australia
Create your own 3D world in virtual reality!
Sound fantastic…
that is just one of the many hands-on experiences that students will have in the new introductory units being offered by the Human Interface Technology Laboratory Australia (HIT Lab AU). These units are configured as electives for students across a spectrum of disciplines and are available in 2009 for most UTAS courses.
The introductory units available are:
They have no pre-requisites, require no previous computing study and are available to students in courses including:
- Bachelor of Education (as first or second year liberal studies units),
- Bachelor of Arts (as electives, a minor or a major),
- Bachelor of Contemporary Arts (as electives in years 2 and 3);
- Bachelor of Business (as electives in some specialisations including Business Management, HRM and Marketing),
- Bachelor of Science (as electives, a minor or a major),
- Bachelor of Health Science (as electives in year 1 and 2),
- Bachelor of Human Movement Studies (as electives in year 3 and 4 of the Physical Education specialisation), and
- as electives in some AMC courses including Bachelor of Applied Science (Marine Environment and Marine Operations)
- as electives in other courses as approved by course coordinators.
To see and hear feedback from students from a range of courses (including Education, Business, Architecture, Contemporary Arts, and Arts/Social Science) who have completed a similar unit visit the Student Profiles page.
Topics covered in the units include:
- an introduction and history of Virtual Reality (VR) taught by the original pioneers in VR;
- the human/machine side of virtual interface design;
- building virtual worlds;
- overview and applications of VR and Augmented Reality (AR) in education, creative arts and design, and in medical applications;
- and future developments in VR/AR technology & applications.
Students can focus on creative design, visualisation, simulation and interactive entertainment relevant to many disciplines.
The units provide exciting opportunities for students to do creative and applied projects based on real world problems and utilising cutting-edge technologies. These technologies can create a new virtual sensory experience for people without actually being in the situation, or augment the physical environment with virtual objects.
Students will have access to these teaching facilities with cutting-edge technology:
- VisionSpace: a three-screen immersive stereo projection system enabling groups to view and interact intuitively with virtual 3D objects
- Access Grid: a high-end, collaborative communication facility that includes a high definition videoconferencing facility
- Immersive virtual reality systems to create and experience ‘being there’ in a synthesized space
- Augmented reality systems for combining bits and atoms; i.e. bringing computer generated 3D models into the real world
- Magicbook technology for going into storybooks
For more information about the HIT Lab AU including information about the two units available for elective study in 2009 contact Julia Mollison on 63243195 or 
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