CS184 Project 1 - due Wednesday 10/21/98 at 10pm

Notes on the project:
To submit the project, create a directory called proj1.

To submit, cd to the proj1 directory and type "submit proj1".

This lab is a partner lab. You should do it in groups of two. Only one partner should turnin. Make sure you include a "README" file that identifies the two partners and who did what in the lab.

Although this project is allocated 3 weeks, it is not designed to involve much more effort than a weekly lab. You will be doing written homeworks during this period, and the project itself will count for about 3% of your overall grade.

The reason for the extra time is to allow you to conceive and design the project as well as implement it. This project is less constrained than the labs. You should do it in VRML, and you should try to use several of the tools you learned about in the labs.

Here are some suggestions for project topics:

• A walking creature. Use kinematic walking (keyframing or scripts) to make a realistic-looking walking creature. You could employ a control panel to drive the creature forward or make it turn.
• A direct-manipulation editor that allows you to interactively change the shape of objects and attach them to each other.
• A small "ecology" of creatures that have distinct behaviors and which circulate around by themselves and rub antennae, follow, and sometimes eat each other. Keep the locomotion simple for these creatures.
• A circuit prototyping system. Routes can be created dynamically, and you can create 3D blocks that have behaviors that model transistors resistors etc. Routing between them can simulate an electrical wire and allow the circuit overall to behave like a physical circuit. You can also have digital version of the layout system, or even fluid-flow (i.e. plumbing).
• An avatar (human proxy or virtual robot) whose hand gestures you control interactively with the mouse via a control panel or direct manipulation. In either case, think carefully about the kinematics so that the motion allows a good range of gesture. You might want to support several different kinematic mappings.