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The Moon Experience: Designing Participatory Immersive Environments for Experiential Learning

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The Moon Experience: Designing Participatory Immersive Environments for Experiential Learning The Moon Experience: Designing Participatory Immersive Environments for Experiential Learning THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Fine Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Cheng Zhang Graduate Program in Design The Ohio State University 2013 Master's Examination Committee: Professor Maria Palazzi Professor Rick Parent Professor Alan Price (Advisor) Copyright by Cheng Zhang 2013 Abstract The Moon Experience is an interactive and immersive virtual reality system based on the historic events of the Apollo Program (1961-1972). The goal of this thesis project is to demonstrate a solution to the design challenge of framing and creating an effective learning experience in a virtual space that would otherwise be impossible to realize in the real world. I employ technologies and approaches from multiple disciplines in the design and implementation of the system. Through the technology of virtual reality I establish the virtual lunar world, which provides participants with immersive firsthand experiences. Computer game technology reinforces the effectiveness of the learning environment, lending The Moon Experience the qualities of entertainment, deep thought, and knowledge retention. Motion capture and computer animation facilitate real-time interactions between users and the system to sustain the sensation of being on the Moon. I take into account related learning principles and narrative storytelling to give a participant the proper situated learning content. Providing a framework of narrative helps heighten the audience’s perception, trigger their imagination, and transcend the virtual reality’s current limitations. ii Dedication To my Grandpa, for his unconditional love, To my parents, for nurturing my creativity and imagination, To my daughters, for the joys and the challenges they bring to my life and for inspiring balance between family and career. iii Acknowledgments Working on an MFA thesis project based on one of the most complex, expensive, and influential projects in human history is a daunting task. The Apollo program lasted more than a decade, cost roughly $170 billion (in 2005 dollars), employed of 400,000 people, and relied on the support of over 20,000 industrial firms and universities at its peak. However, for my MFA thesis project, the available resources to create The Moon Experience based on this historical event is very limited, consist of the research labs at ACCAD, invaluable guidance from my committee members, unwavering support from friends and family, and a one-person development team (me). I would like to express my gratitude to these people. I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Alan Price, for his guidance and encouragement throughout my studies at ACCAD. His belief in me gives me confidence in pursuing my creative endeavors independently as a researcher and artist in the future. I am grateful to Professor Maria Palazzi for her unwavering support and encouragement. Beyond the subjects of design, animation, and multimedia, she has taught me much about being a creative researcher through her excellent example. iv I would like to thank Professor Rick Parent for his advice, encouragement, patience, and understanding particularly when I started to pursue the duel degrees. I would also like to thank Professor Barbara Ryden for the early conversations about the nearby star system, which inspired me working on The Moon Experience. Extra special thanks to Tom Heban, Samantha Kuhn and Trent Rowland for their collaborations in this project: Tom played the astronaut and allowed me to record his motions in the motion capture lab. He did the voice acting for the control center in Houston. Kuhn made the mockup space suit for the project. Trent is the voice actor for Jack. I would like to extend my thanks to my friends at ACCAD: Tom Heban, Michael Andereck, and Sheri Larrimer for their generous time to help me with testing and editing. I owe the greatest gratitude to my family, particularly to my husband, Lixin Ye. His love, patience, encouragement, and support allow me to pursue my dream and make this work possible. Finally, for my parents, words do not exist to express my gratitude for their constant love, concern, and steadfast belief in me. To them I own the greatest part of what I am and what I have. v Publications Several Approaches to Solve The Rotation Illusion with Wheel Effect, Cheng Zhang and Rick Parent, SPIE Conference Proceedings on Computational Imaging VIII, Jan. 2010, San Jose, CA. Real-time Reflections on Curved Objects Using Layered Depth Textures, Cheng Zhang, Hsien-Hsi Hsieh and Han-Wei Shen, IADISInternational Conference Proceedings on Computer Graphics and Visualization 2008, July 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Fields of Study Major Field: Design Area of Emphasis: Digital Animation and Interactive Media vi Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Publications ........................................................................................................................ vi Fields of Study ................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Challenge ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Research Scope ......................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Contribution .............................................................................................................. 6 Chapter 2: Background / Contextual Review ..................................................................... 8 2.1 Learning theories ....................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 How People Learn ............................................................................................ 11 2.1.2 Multimedia Learning ........................................................................................ 14 vii 2.1.3 Multimodal Learning ........................................................................................ 17 2.1.4 Constructivism in Multimedia Learning........................................................... 19 2.2 Technology of Virtual Reality................................................................................. 22 2.2.1 The properties of VR ........................................................................................ 24 2.2.2 The components of the virtual reality system ................................................... 27 2.3 The Apollo Missions ............................................................................................... 34 Chapter 3: Strategies to Solve Design Issues in The Moon Experience ........................... 38 3.1 How to break down the large problem into a manageable design research project 38 3.2 The strategies of implementing The Moon Experience ........................................... 40 3.2.1 Theme-driven approach – narrative .................................................................. 41 3.2.2 The three scenarios ........................................................................................... 44 Chapter 4: The Design of Virtual Lunar World ................................................................ 47 4.1 Modeling the Virtual Lunar Terrain ........................................................................ 48 4.2 Astronauts................................................................................................................ 52 4.2.1 Overview of Apollo Extravehicular Mobility Unit .......................................... 54 4.2.2 Modeling the Astronauts .................................................................................. 60 4.3 Modeling the Lunar Roving Vehicle ....................................................................... 67 4.4 Responsive Animations ........................................................................................... 69 4.4.1 Character Animations ....................................................................................... 69 viii 4.4.2 The Real-time Animations created in Unity ..................................................... 74 4.4.3 The Hybrid Animations .................................................................................... 76 Chapter 5: Interface Design .............................................................................................. 78 5.1 The interface for the participant .............................................................................. 80 5.2
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