- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock gamers create app for Clinton Presidential Center exhibit

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 16:02:24 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor, student, and alumnus have created at the Clinton Presidential Center.�� The app was built to accompany the exhibit, which is on display at the Clinton Presidential Center from Sept. 8, 2018, to March 24, 2019. This exhibit explores how the Clinton administration worked to improve the environment, the green building design elements incorporated into the Clinton Presidential Center, and ways to make sustainable living a part of everyday life. The exhibit uses videos, augmented reality games, hands-on interactives, photos, and text to teach about those themes. The creators of the app include Joseph Williams, associate professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing; Tanner Marshall, a graduate student in the Department of Computer Science; and Robbie Hunt, a ��Vlog��ý Little Rock alumnus. All three are members of the Little Rock Game Designers and a company called Little Rock Games. “The app has three components,” Marshall said. “One part is a sustainable homebuilding game, another is an informational component where you can read virtual placards throughout the exhibit, and there is a scavenger hunt where you find hidden markers throughout the exhibit.” The app uses augmented and virtual reality and took more than 100 hours to create. Williams’ favorite part of the app is the homebuilding game, which allows users to virtually build a home to see the environmental outcomes of their choices. “There are pieces that represent how big the house is, flooring and roofing options, and other choices that can make the house energy efficient,” Williams said. “You encourage people to be cognizant of how these choices change the overall impact that their house has on the environment. The interface gives users a green rating for how well they are doing, and it tells them how much the house will cost. If they make green choices, when they are finished the house will show plants and happy animals. If they choose poorly, you may see acid rain at the end. It gives them a visual representation of the outcomes of their choices.”

A screenshot from the app developed for the “White House, Green Building” exhibit at the Clinton Presidential Library.

Museum Curator Christine Mouw said the app has been a positive addition for the exhibit, and she is hoping to incorporate more apps into future exhibits. “They were so great to work with and customized the games to fit our exhibit and our ideas, and they taught us so much about what could be done,” Mouw said. “The end product is fabulous. We’ve gotten so much positive feedback. People are spending a lot more time in the exhibit than they otherwise would, playing the game! I hope we can put games into more of our exhibits in the future.” In choosing projects for their company to complete, Williams said they look for “games that make a difference in people’s lives.” “Our unofficial company mission is to design and work with games that have some sort of social impact,” Williams said. “That matters to us. This project ties to an interest in sustaining world climate and livability.” “The kinds of things we are interested in as a group go beyond games and technology,” Marshall added. “When we can work on a project that has a broader impact, that is meaningful.” In the upper right photo, members of Little Rock Games include (L to R) Tanner Marshall, Brad Sims, Olivia Dunlap, Joseph Williams, and Robbie Hunt. Photo by Ben Krain/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications and Marketing.

Cruz-Neira selected as speaker at SIGGRAPH 2018

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 14:27:41 +0000

Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the and interim chair of the at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, is one of the featured speakers at the 45th annual (SIGGRAPH) 2018.�� The conference, to be held Aug. 12-16 in Vancouver, is the world’s leading annual interdisciplinary educational event showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques. The event’s business symposium is designed for executives and top creative experts from the project creation industry, will present 22 speakers, and expects to welcome close to 200 executives from over a dozen countries, including Korea, India, Japan, China, France, Russia, and Cameroon. With attendees spanning every specialty from business and technical management to software development and film production, the program will analyze and discuss trends in computer graphics, exploring the responsibility that comes with launching new technologies and fostering opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. The two-day event will explore the intersection of creativity, technology, and business. Symposium topics include: the social and human implications of technology that impact the way we design prototypes; how artificial intelligence is programmed; and how technology is creating rapid convergence of business models and design interfaces. Earlier this year, Cruz-Neira, world-renowned inventor of the CAVE virtual environment, was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for her contributions to immersive visualization. She holds a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering, cum laude, from the Universidad Metropolitana as well as a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science, both from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she specialized in virtual reality, visual analytics, and computations steering research.

Bolt researching how to create virtual computer monitoring system

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 13:36:41 +0000

For those who have seen Tony Stark effortlessly controlling virtual computer screens in the “Iron Man” and “Avengers” movies, you have seen Zack Bolt’s vision for his research.�� Bolt, a graduate student in computer science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has developed a virtual computer monitor system that he hopes can eventually replace its physical counterparts. Student researchers at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Emerging Analytics Center are often tasked with discovering the possibilities of newly released virtual and augmented reality technologies. Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the Emerging Analytics Center, challenged Bolt to come up with a unique application using an augmented reality helmet. “Dr. Cruz told me to do something interesting … so I started out with the idea of a holophone and then it moved on to a holodesktop,” Bolt said.�� Bolt used a mount designed and printed on a 3D printer to secure a device that detects hand movements onto the augmented reality helmet. People can see virtual screens through the augmented reality helmet and use simple hand gestures to perform functions like moving and resizing the screens as well as clicking and drawing. A virtual computer monitor system allows for an infinite virtual work space in which users no longer have to worry about limited monitor space, since they can open as many screens as they choose and strategically place them in easily accessible virtual space. “The whole point of EAC is visualizing big data more easily,” Bolt said. “This technology could be used to see and interact with more data at once. Instead of tabbing through different charts, you can just turn your head to the side or above or below to see more information. You can achieve much more than just a normal sphere of office.” The device can connect with wireless networks, which would allow multiple users to easily share and access the virtual screens, thereby making it much easier to work remotely while easily sharing information with co-workers. “Think of the computer monitor replacement systems shown in ‘Minority Report’ or Tony Stark in the ‘Avengers’ movies,” Bolt said. “In the future, it could be like that. There are no cords. You could walk around freely, and the technology would replace the monitor completely in a freeform system.” For those who are dreaming of handling technology with the finesse and ease of Tony Stark, Bolt warned the technology, while promising, isn’t quite ready to completely replace the desktop. “The device is currently not accurate enough,” he said. “In the future, I would like to make the holodesktop more intuitive and easier to control. I would also want to get more headsets to have the ability to connect the device with more computers.” Bolt’s created his demo after three months of research. He is hoping an industry partner will see his demo and fund the project for further research.

French interns at Emerging Analytics Center create 3D virtual tour of campus, games for Arkansas Children’s Hospital

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 14:35:46 +0000

Five college students from France who interned at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Emerging Analytics Center have created a 3D virtual tour of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus as well as augmented reality games to entertain children at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.�� The Emerging Analytics Center, led by Director Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, has an internship exchange program with the University of Poitiers in France. The five students interned at the Emerging Analytics Center from March 27 to June 17. “We had the opportunity to do our internship abroad, so we can discover visualization, virtual reality, and learn more about English,” said intern Sebastien Four. “We have a chance to see new technologies that aren’t on the markets yet. We have learned lots, and we discovered a new culture and new people. This is a great opportunity for us to work here for three months.” Four and Lea Poignant spent their internship creating a 3D virtual tour of campus that can be viewed via Google Cardboard, a low-cost virtual reality viewer for smartphones. “We had to think about a way for students to visit the campus from just a map and how students can really experience this campus from a 3D map,” Four said. “Hopefully, one day it will be an app on the app store and prospective students can use it. The skills that we learned here will be great for our resume for future jobs and school.”

Julie Couture, left, and Pauline Rouillon, two of several students from France interning at the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Emerging Analytics Center during the summer, demonstrate an augmented reality game they developed for Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Photo by Ben Krain/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

The second intern team, Pauline Rouillon and Julie Couture, worked on the creation of three virtual and augmented reality games in development for use at. The plan is for the individual/multiplayer games to be available on a cell phone app that can be accessed from waiting rooms and patient rooms, so that kids in the hospital can play games together virtually, even if they cannot meet physically. The fifth and final intern, Antoine Guillard, used the game development platform Unity to develop ways to more easily visualize big data. He created a 3D visualization of the factors involved in the World Happiness Report, an annual publication of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network that contains rankings of national happiness. In the upper right photo, intern Lea Poignant demonstrates a 360-degree virtual tour of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. Photo by Ben Krain/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

Virtual reality innovator Cruz-Neira demonstrates how VR is changing the world at Consumer Electronics Show

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 14:47:56 +0000

Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the Emerging Analytics Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, demonstrated how innovative virtual reality technology is changing the world for the better at Dell’s Jan. 10 VR for Good event at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.�� The VR for Good panel featured Dell partners and innovators who are using virtual reality to make a positive impact on society. Cruz-Neira demonstrated the Anatomic Eyes Project, an interactive cadaver dissection where users can dissect a life-size cadaver using simple pinch gestures. The technology has the capability to greatly transform medical education and research. “I talked about the fact that VR is much more than just helmets, and that we need to look at the technology based on the role or tasks users need to accomplish,” she said. “Different roles and tasks may require different devices. Also, I spoke about social VR, which is the ability of having multiple people share a virtual experience without having separate devices.” The other panelists included Dr. Skip Rizzo, director of medical virtual reality at the Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California, who demonstrated a VR program that can help treat soldiers with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Mike Libecki, a National Geographic explorer with a new VR series documenting his adventures while promoting environmental awareness and climate change. A blogpost and video about the event can be . Cruz-Neira, world-renowned inventor of the CAVE virtual environment, leads ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Emerging Analytics Center for faculty, researchers, and students exploring advanced applications of virtual reality, mixed reality, and visualization. She uses CAVE for applications to advance business, but also to promote computer science work and research in education, including computer science programs in public schools. In September and October 2017, the Emerging Analytics Center participated in the TechStart Partnership between Facebook and the state of Arkansas to generate student interest in computer science education and careers. Cruz-Neira, recently named the interim chair of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s computer science department, has been recognized as one of the by the gaming website as well as one of the three by University Herald.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Emerging Analytics Center to host open house featuring virtual and augmented reality technology April 7-8

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 14:00:59 +0000

The at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host an open house from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 7-8, where visitors can see the latest cutting-edge technology in the world of virtual and augmented reality.�� “Virtual reality and augmented reality technology applications are like our universe, ever-evolving,” said Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the Emerging Analytics Center. “Our team’s commitment to ongoing application development means you will always experience new and engaging immersive environments that spark the imagination and that innovatively address real industry challenges.” In “Discover Virtual Reality 2017: A Virtual Wonderland,” visitors can explore featured applications demonstrated on devices like the immersive CAVE (computer aided virtual environment), Oculus Rift, Microsoft HoloLens, HTC VIVE, the Cyberith & Virtuix Omni treadmills, and a 180-degree immersion dome. As guests enter the Emerging Analytics Center, an interactive virtual owl named “WhoNu” will tell them about the upcoming tour experience. “WhoNu” was created based on facial recognition research conducted by students in the center. Other virtual and augmented reality experiences provide guests the opportunity to explore human anatomy by dissecting a virtual cadaver, traverse the desert terrain of Al Baleed, a UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site in Oman, trek through Pirate Island, and create art in a 3D environment.

Emerging Analytics Center Student Researcher Loki Rasmussen explores Pirate Island in the CAVE. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to test their knowledge by downloading Wonderland, a unique virtual portal designed for this event. The mystery will be unveiled as guests search for virtual clues throughout their tour in the Emerging Analytics Center. “Whether you are a professional seeking technology strategies to enhance your business, a parent wanting to expose your children to emerging technologies, or an inquiring mind who wants to know what’s on the technology horizon in Arkansas and nationally, this is your event,” Cruz-Neira said. “You will be amazed to see all that is happening in the virtual world right here at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.” The event is free and open to the public. The Emerging Analytics Center is located on the fifth floor of the George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology building. Visit the ��for free tickets to the Open House. In the upper right photo,��Emerging Analytics Center Student Researcher Ramiro Serrano Vergel dissects a virtual corpse on the Immersive virtual reality table at the EAC. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.��

Trojans fans celebrate Sun Belt Championships with VR experience

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:42:40 +0000

Fans of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans can enhance their Sun Belt Conference Tournament experience with the Emerging Analytics Center’s update to the “��Vlog��ýLR TrojansAR” app. This week, members will promote the Trojans men’s and women’s basketball teams as they compete in the Sun Belt Tournaments at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. “We are using our experience with virtual reality and augmented reality to get up close and personal with some of our favorite Trojan players,” said Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the Emerging Analytics Center. “Being a Trojan fan has personal meaning to loyal supporters,” Cruz-Neira said. “Many fans would love the opportunity to take pictures with the players. So we have a virtual means to give the fans what they want; a photo with a virtual reconstructed image of one of the women’s and one of the men’s team players.” With the fan experience app, fans can take pictures with virtual representations of senior guards. and, who was recently announced as the Sun Belt Player of the Year. The app also includes an engaging basketball perimeter shooting experience. When users succeed in making the virtual basket, they are rewarded with a computer animation of Josh Hagins’ game winning shot against Purdue during the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The “��Vlog��ýLR TrojansAR” app is free and can be downloaded from the and. The Trojans women earned the conference’s regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. After winning the first game 69-53 against Appalachian State, the team will play in the��tournament semifinals at 5 p.m. Saturday on ESPN3. In the upper right photo, the Emerging Analytics Center created virtual representations of senior guards Marcus Johnson Jr. and Sharde’ Collins for the fan experience app.��

Former astronaut serves as keynote speaker at international virtual reality conference

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 17:48:35 +0000

Scott Parazynski, a decorated physician and astronaut recently inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, will be the keynote speaker of an international virtual reality conference Dec. 7-9 at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock.�� The conference brings together researchers, developers, and academics to share their expertise on virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and 3-D user interfaces. ICAT-EGVE 2016 is the merger of the International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence (ICAT) and the Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments (EGVE). The conference was organized by the Emerging Analytics Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the ��Vlog��ýLR Emerging Analytics Center, served as the conference’s co-chair. “It’s a great opportunity to see exciting new research presentations, innovative ideas, and inspiring conversations in virtual and augmented reality,” Cruz-Neira said. “Come and mingle with the leading virtual reality and augmented reality scientists, industry professionals and visionaries, share your ideas and experiences, and try the newest technologies displayed at the Virtual Reality Plaza exhibit area.” Attendees will explore and experience the intriguing dynamics of virtual and augmented reality that include scientific applications, engineering environments, architectural designs, training activities, educational experiences, business analytics, game prototypes, and art spaces. Featured applications will be demonstrated using the CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment), Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, a 180-degree immersion dome, a variety of mobile devices, and more. In his Thursday, Dec. 8, keynote address, “,” Parazynski will highlight defining moments of his career when perseverance and multidisciplinary collaboration sparked innovative solutions under the most extreme conditions. His speech will also include innovative approaches to supporting virtual reality for medical applications. The speech will begin at 9:15 a.m. Thursday at the Clinton Presidential Center. Parazynski is a veteran of five spaceflights, spending 47 hours on spacewalks. He holds the distinction of being the only person to have both flown in space and summited Mt. Everest. The conference’s second keynote speaker, Rudolph Darken, director of research for the Center for Homeland Defense and Security and professor of computer science at the Naval Postgraduate School, will speak at 9:15 a.m. Friday, Dec. 9, at the Clinton Presidential Center. Darken’s keynote speech, “,” will cover the key elements of taking an idea from conception to a commercialized product, especially in a university setting. Members of the conference will receive an exclusive tour of the ��Vlog��ýLR Emerging Analytics Center on Thursday. To register for the conference, visit the. For more information, visit the or contact Kendra Boyle at 501.682.2310 or eacevents@ualr.edu. About the Emerging Analytics Center The Emerging Analytics Center (ualr.edu/emerginganalytics) at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is a convergence of expertise in virtual, augmented and mixed reality, visual analytics, and immersive visualization. The EAC brings together innovative faculty, talented students, experienced researchers, and dynamic industry partners to address large-scale problems to support and advance our state’s competitiveness, technological innovation, and visionary leadership.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock gamers create app for Clinton Presidential Center exhibit