Category Archives: SIF Projects

2 Comments

3D Atlanta Updates & Other Tidbits

  March 1, 2015 , , , ,

Hey Guys! Couple of new updates to share with everyone about the 3D Atlanta Project! First off–in two weeks we should have 3 completed models of architecture to show off! Which is pretty exciting! Wasfi, Nathan, and I are hard at work getting them ready! The other SIFs are currently working on compiling their historical research into interactive pieces. What I mean by that is this: If they find something on Coca-Cola from the 1920s that is relevant but maybe we don’t have enough information to fill up,say an entire booklet, we can simply hang up a flier on a building’s wall that a player can interact with. So the question then–is what is this interactivity supposed to look like? After Discussing a lot of different options, we came up with the simplified point-and-click idea. The point-and-click paradigm is well known and intuitive. We aren’t trying to create a new paradigm of interactivity–rather utilize pre-existing paradigms of interactivity to change a paradigm of educational interest and engagement. So–“Point-and-click”–which some of you might be familiar with from the ubiquitous mystery search games that are all over app stores and Steam, or from certain classics from Sierra or Lucas Arts in the 90s (Secret of Monkey Island, Quest for Glory, etc.) and perhaps the more well-known Myst series. In our environment–although it is a full 3D environment from a first-person perspective–the point-and-click interface simply means than when the player’s cursor,(which can be controlled from a mouse, or if the object is simply … Continue reading

No comments

Deliberation map is born!

  March 1, 2015 , ,

Project: Online Deliberation Mapping Tool Development As planned, version 1.0 of deliberation map was completed. It includes following features: 1. There can be only one seed for the deliberation map. When the map starts, it will look like this. 2. Any body can post and reply, without logging in. So, it is open to public. When deliberation map is running on a server, whosoever gets access to the URL of the deliberation map, can add posts to it. As a consequence, two users, probably from two different computers, can view and edit the map at the same time. Changes made by one user will be reflected to all others when the map is refreshed at the viewer’s end. 3. Currently map refreshes at a particular client computer when a new post is added by a user at the client computer, it is NOT refreshed at all other clients viewing the map. 4. The view is in a tree like fashion. Reply to a post is in the next level. Within a level posts will be in chronological order with earliest on the left and the latest on the right. 5. When a post is added, the map rearranges and scales dynamically to adjust the display to show all the posts on the map. The nodes, representing the post, decreases in size automatically to fit into the display. For example, the map changes to look as follows:   Technical Details The deliberation map has been implemented using ASP.NET technology. It has been … Continue reading

5 Comments

The SIF and graduate education

  February 16, 2015

Today in the exchange, I overheard Ryan mention to Justin that he often thinks about ways to “market” the SIF, a program which has, as best I can tell, very little in the way of reputation even at GSU. This is not surprising since the program is less than a year old and much of the work that we do is in an ancillary role and/or is long-term work that hasn’t yet shown up in the classroom. My work for the hybrid American history survey is a good example of this. It is trickling into the classroom, but any students who encounter it will have no reason to associate it with the SIF program and my conversations with professors in the department leads me to think that for most part, few are aware of the SIF involvement in the development of content for the course. Assuming that the SIF funding is renewed (and I would that it is as we have been a ton of good work for the university), time should take care of some of this. Hopefully in years to come more faculty will know about the chance to intersect with our labor and expertise, more students will seek positions in the program, and the general profile of the SIF will increase within the GSU community. Which is not to say that Ryan’s suggestion that some marketing and brand development would not be worthwhile. I have been also been thinking about the public profile of the SIF of … Continue reading

9 Comments

What can you do with Unmanned Aerial Systems?

  February 3, 2015 ,

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) is a very broad topic. Part of my role as a student innovation fellow is to build and experiment with UAS, with the goal of developing a “Manual” for UAS use at Georgia State. The manual will include both safety and technical information, as well as some basic flight instruction and guidelines for use. To that end, my post today will consist of a pretty “stream of consciousness” discussion of what is available and what is possible with unmanned aerial systems in a University setting. I will also go over the differences in the various types of UAS and their pros and cons. The reason I ask this is, is that I have a somewhat narrow focus when it comes to the use of these aircraft. I want to know what sort of ideas you can come up for using Unmanned Aerial Systems in a University setting. Aerial Photography or Videography is the primary use of most UAS in academic or research settings. There are many different variations on this role. Cinematographers and photographers have been using UAS to achieve an airborne perspective with low cost in many fields including journalism, entertainment and real estate. Other Colleges and Universities are using them on sports fields to analyze athletic performance from a new perspective. Governments and utilities have used cameras in the air to perform critical infrastructure inspections, and still others have used small unmanned aircraft to survey large swaths of land with high resolution aerial imagery. … Continue reading

1 Comment

Hole in History

  December 7, 2014 , , , , , ,

As you all may know, I am a part of a team of awesome SIFs who are working on an educational, innovative project. The project is aimed towards recreating an interactive virtual 3D model of the intersection of Decatur St. and Ivy St. (now Peachtree Center Ave.) in what it would have been like in the 1930s. Working on this project for the last semester has shed light in the fact that the project has taken a lot more time and energy than expected, while also hitting several bumps on the road. To me, that’s no problem as I know that all great masterpieces (not implying that our project will live up to the word “masterpiece”) take hard work, time, and dedication. Currently we have been at a standstill with the project because of one fact: there is a lack of pictures of the street during the 1930s. In order to resolve our problem, My job for the project was to search the internet inside and out for any pictures of buildings, preferably head-on shots, that would aid in recreating the building in a virtual 3D model as accurately as possible. Another SIF was setting up the 3D world in the game engine called Unity. As the search continued and the results were very disheartening and minimal, we decided to look to outside sources for help. One of our project supervisors heard that Emory was attempting to recreate the city of Atlanta into virtual 3D model in a similar project. … Continue reading