Research Project Proposal

The research project I propose will involve the design a virtual environment in which multiple versions of a product can be placed in and can be interacted with in different ways such as lifting, moving, and rotating. This information can be used to further explain the unlimited functions of the product under investigation and collect information regarding product testing and aesthetics. Through this study, I hope to demonstrate how through the use of computer visualization and rendering programs, products can be field tested.

With this project, I seek to explore how, through the use of computers, a simulated virtual environment can enable a represented interaction with objects in a space. The objects to be tested in this research project are meant for use in a classroom where the object will be used by multiple users and repeated throughout the space. To estimate, about twenty instances of this object will be used in any given classroom at one time. The technology and representation will provide the ability to visualize the effects that the repetition of an object, such as the one to be modeled, will have on a space without having to manufacture and product the finished models in large quantities. This project is not meant to capture 2D images of a space but rather allow for an easy-to-use 3D virtual environment.

The scope of this research will include the modeling of this object, which was previously designed in a Fall Graduate Studio, the modeling of various classroom environments for the backdrop, and the marriage of these objects and environments in a third program that enables the ability for unlimited interactions. The limitations of the research will be marked by time constraints, as this project is to be completed over the course of the next three months.

The anticipated expectation is that this research and design will result in a fully interactive virtual classroom environment that will allow a multitude of users to move the objects contained in the room around to view different seating positions, view different seating arrangements, view different colors, and view different classroom environments or backgrounds. The final results will be displayed through an interactive flash file to be tested by peers, designers, researchers, and possibly children, for whom the object was originally design.