Project

The project will be done in groups of 2 or 3.  The graduate and undergraduate students should form separate teams, as we will have different expectations for grads and undergrads.  If the number of students is not divisible by 3, we will decide what to do when the time comes to form groups.

Teams will be formed by the third week, and an initial project pitch will be done by each team in week six.  A fully fleshed out design presentation will be done week ten, before spring break, when the last individual assignment is due.

Teams will then work on their project for the remainder of the semester, with two major milestones (the Alpha deliverable in week 14, and a final deliverable in dead week.)

The project is best thought of as a prototype that demonstrates the core concepts of your idea.  The emphasis is on demonstrating what is interesting about your experience concept, and helping the person experiencing it understand what it would be like if fully realized.  The more real the project is, the better, but you should not allow yourself to get sidetracked by issues that may only need to be dealt with by a commercial implementation:  a beautifully engineering prototype that is a poor experience or is not fully working will not earn full points, but a working prototype that may need to be rewritten before it could be distributed, but which gives that participant a wonderful experience, will earn full points.

As with engineering, polished content is not necessary, but should be clean enough to not interfere with the experience; opting for a clean simple aesthetic rather than “cobbled together mismatched content” is a good idea.  You will NOT get significant additional credit for things unrelated to your core idea: no content editors, no elaborate web services, no super-cool offline non-MR experience, etc.  When it doubt, ask.

A summary of the elements of the project are as follows (additional details will be provided in class):

• Project Page.  Each project team is expected to maintain a t-square wiki page for their project.  This page should be linked of the wiki group page where you list the group members. The wiki should have a summary of the project design idea, links to all the turn-ins and presentations, and a final video of the project.  The content should be neatly and concisely laid out on this page, with explanations of what each linked element is (i.e., do not just throw a pile of resource links on a page and expect us to figure it out).  All  projects are expected to be targeted to Argon, but depending on the project may also have a web interface;  all elements must be clearly documented and accessible from your project page.
  Deliverable:  Before the class where you present your pitch, your wiki page should be set up and have the required information, as well as a link to your pitch presentation.
• The Pitch will be short (8-10 mins) and include time for questions and feedback (we will provide more detail in class).  Your presentation should include concept art and storyboards, to better convey your idea.  The focus should be on the “core idea” of the project, as well as your initial thinking of practical issues such as who will do what, what resources you will need to use, etc.  You can have more detail in the presentation slides than you will have time to present;  be careful and thoughtful in your use of presentation time.  The goal of the pitch is to convey to us and the class what you are thinking about and what issues you are grappling with as you begin to design your project:  having a finalized design is not required (but would be ok), but clearly conveying that you have been thinking hard about your project and what it means to create an AR experience is required.
  Deliverable:  Your presentation slides, which may have additional information beyond what you present, either as extra slides, or in the presenter notes section (assuming you use powerpoint).  They should be accessible from your wiki page BEFORE the class when you present.
• The Project Proposal presentations will be a similar length to the Pitch, but should now be fleshed out such that it is clear exactly what your project is, what you will be doing for the rest of the semester.  You should be prepared to turn in a design document in addition to your presentation slides, that clearly defines the project, what each person will be doing, and what the milestones and expectations are for the Alpha milestone and the final presentation are. Keep in mind that you will only have a month (including Spring Break) to get the initial Alpha milestone working, so we will expect that you have already begun working on elements of the project to ensure you know where you are going with it.
  Deliverable: Your presentation slides, plus a design document.  Your document should be long enough and detailed enough to convey the information above.  A reasonable document would be at least 4-8 pages including images for the design component, plus 1-2 pages for each of the plan/milestones and group member responsibilities. 
• Alpha.  The Alpha should be an initial demonstrable prototype.  It should demonstrate some central part of your project, and allow you to get an idea (and feedback) about whether you are going down a good path with your idea.  You should use your presentation to show what you have done:  it would be a good idea to capture video and/or screenshots for some of your work, and include this in your presentation slides.  Do not just do an ad-hoc live demo.
  Deliverable:  Your presentation slides, along with secondary files such as video.  In addition, you should provide links to your Alpha demo, along with instructions for testing, such that the professors and TAs can test them on their own.  If your project is meant to be experienced outside, please create a version using panoramas that can be tested anywhere.  You are responsible for ensuring that these links remain live for the rest of the semester, and represent the state of the demo at Alpha time (i.e., do you keep working on your project at the same URL after the Alpha, but use a new URL for your work).
• Final Presentation.  You will present your project, including showing a short video (less than five minutes) documenting your what you have done.  You should also present what you learned;  what did your project did and did not do;  what you would do differently.  You will be required to turn in a paper that describes, analyzes and reflects on what you have done.