Assignment
PART ONE:
Lab Exercises: Exploring Emerging Technologies and Immersive Design
Throughout the initial six weeks of this module, we will delve into a combination of theoretical concepts and hands-on experimentation with emerging technologies. This period will allow you to identify activities that you can develop into a concise research project during the latter half of the module.
In this assignment, you will craft comprehensive blog posts (minimum 1500 words in total across three blog posts) that comprehensively address the weekly exercises conducted during the following workshop sessions:
- Prototyping Your Immersive Experience – Write the lab exercises that relate to 360 3D Content using Maya/Blender in Week 1 and the WebVR exercise in week 2. In each of these try and write up how you may make use of these mediums through the use of story spheres/storyboards. (eg. use of light, colour, audio), demonstrating design consideration of 360 degree canvas). Can you relate VR UX principles in the write up of this exercise?
- Immersive User Experience (UX) and Augmented Reality (AR) – ( Write the lab exercises that relate to AR and the use of Zapworks to design AR. Consider how you may make use of this medium and consider some of the approaches we covered in the lecture in workshop 1 )
- VR Immersive Art – Capture and write up your lab exercise engaging with design VR Art (How might you plan your work using this medium if you were going to base a project using this form?)
There will be some weekly lecture content but also some practical experimentation. The stronger submissions will relate some of the theory, design research against the lab exercises rather than a simple capture of process.
You should create a new category called Emerging Technology within your wordpress site. You should then add two sub categories:-
- Lab Exercises and Research Proposal (for assignment 1)
- Production/Portfolio (for assignment 2)
Each blog post should detail the immersive design methodologies explored and subsequently implemented in your practical lab exercises. Students are encouraged to integrate design frameworks covered in class into their experimentation, which will be taken into account during assessment. Additionally, the utilization of the Hull Harvard Referencing format for referencing external sources is expected.
To enhance the comprehensibility of your blog posts, make sure to include a combination of screen captures, recordings, and animated GIFs that demonstrate the step-by-step processes undertaken during the in-class exercises.
PART TWO:
Research Proposal: Crafting Your Emerging Research Project (2500 words minimum):
The second part of the assignment requires you to design and plan a larger design project based on one of the technologies outlined in the first half of the module. You will you then use this plan to guide the development of your ideas, which form the 2nd assignment.
You will employ design-based research methodologies to meticulously plan your selected emerging research project.
Your research project plan should encompass the following essential components:
Research Overview (: In this section, carefully outline the scope of your research project. This includes a comprehensive consideration of the user experience (UX) aspects of your plan, along with any ethical considerations relevant to your research topic.
Project Plan (Milestones, User Stories, Trello Boards etc.): Provide a project plan that outlines the various milestones you intend to achieve throughout the course of your research project. This can be done using techniques such as Scrum’s User Stories, Task management boards to articulate user-centric goals. Outline the sequence of activities, anticipated timeframes, and key deliverables at each milestone. This section should offer a structured timeline that clearly conveys the progression of your research endeavor. The milestones will be used to check progress during the second half of this module.
Concept Storyboard: Present a visual representation of your project’s concept through a storyboard. This storyboard should offer a sequential depiction of the user journey and interaction with your emerging technology or design. Use this storyboard as a means to encapsulate the essence of your project’s concept and user engagement in a visually engaging manner.
Throughout this research proposal, ensure a coherent flow of ideas and attention to detail. This will lay the foundation for the successful execution of your emerging research project in the latter part of the module.
Examples (Not an exhaustive list but some initial ideas to get you thinking) We will provide examples each week of some of these concepts.
- Immersive 360 video prototype (Using Maya, Unreal/Unity and output to 360 video) – eg. Alice in Wonderland concept, Other stories you wish to bring life too within an immersive context.
- Augmented Reality Design i.e. Interactive story book, Interactive Murals/Graffiti Art
- Immersive Art Gallery – Research a series of artists or art pieces and consider a 360 version the audience can experience.
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Whilst working on this assessment the following use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, including Language Models such as ChatGPT, is permitted:
- Idea generation: Use them to brainstorm ideas, concepts, and arguments related to your assessment. It can assist you in generating diverse perspectives that you can further research and develop.
- Understanding Technical Concepts: Students can input challenging terms or concepts to receive explanations that are more accessible.
- Structure: Use the tool to provide an outline structure for you to work from
AI-systems are prone to hallucinations. Always ensure that you augment the AI-output by at least one or two additional academic resources so that you can verify the position.
If using LLM as an academic source, you should quote from it directly using reference appropriate to your discipline. For support in use of and referencing of AI tools, visit the Library’s AI skills guide.