Entertainment

IMTC is instrumental in enabling the research and education projects related to the The Aware Home Research Initiative (AHRI). AHRI is an interdisciplinary research effort involving numerous faculty members from several schools and other organizations at Georgia Tech. IMTC researcher, Brian D. Jones, is Director of the AHRI and manager of the Aware Home facility. Mr.

In collaboration with Highlands Historic Consulting (HHC) and the National Monuments Foundation (NMF), IMTC has developed an innovative, immersive interaction experience for the Millennium Gate Philanthropy Gallery (on the lower floor of the Millennium Gate). Rodney Cook, Jr of the National Monuments Foundation was looking for someone capable of devising and delivering this full-gallery experience.

We have developed a software framework for the creation of live performance simulations by non-technologists. This is a toolkit for simulating various types of cultural performances using motion capture, 3D animation, virtual reality, and reactive agents. The software allows the developer to define the components of a performance such as actors, audience members, and venue using a standard score paradigm. The user interactions and reactive agent scripting can also be defined through this interface.

In this project we explored a concept for augmented reality entertainment, called AR Karaoke, where users perform their favorite dramatic scenes with virtual actors. AR Karaoke is the acting equivalent of traditional karaoke, where the goal is to facilitate an acting experience for the user that is entertaining for both the user and audience. The main challenge in creating an AR Karaoke prototype is to develop an easy to learn user interface that helps the performer understand the timing, body movement, and dialog for their character.

Scott Robertson presented a paper entitled, Multiuser Collaborative Exploration of Immersive Photorealistic Virtual Environments in Public Spaces at the Human Computer Interaction International Conference (HCII 2009) in San Diego, July 19-24, 2009.

• July, 2007: The Gates of Paradise Interactive Kiosk was up and running at the Art Institute of Chicago. Museum staff followed detailed instructions provided by IMTC and customized the physical appearance to match their space.

IMTC participated in the Klaus Advanced Computing Building Groundbreaking. IMTC developed an augemented reality interaction allowing Christopher Klaus to virtually place the new building into a campus map, triggering a fly-thru animation of the future building. In addition, IMTC produced a short video introduction and inserted the virtual building into real-life photographs.

This interactive game was designed for use on a kiosk that resides in Zoo Atlanta’s Ford African Rain Forest exhibit, as well as for an Animal Explorers website developed by Georgia Public Broadcasting in conjunction with Zoo Atlanta. The Mating Game was developed to teach visitors and users how gorillas are chosen for mating. Species Survival Plan Coordinators, or Captive Breeding Managers, consider a number of factors when choosing gorillas for breeding.

The initial installment of this kiosk provides visitors with a textual and graphical description of interesting Panda facts and a list of donors to the exhibit. Currently, two touchscreen kiosks are installed at the Panda exhibit. Future installments of this kiosk will provide additional content and allow for frequent updates by the zoo staff.

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The purpose of this Zoo Atlanta exhibit is to teach visitors about the communication and social behaviors of gorillas. Visitors experience audio and visual stimuli through the use of an interactive touchscreen kiosk with video clips. The video clips show the social context of gorilla vocalizations and body gestures, including: screams, grunts, chuckles, chest beats, rumbles, and infant sounds. The kiosk is installed at Zoo Atlanta.

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