Project Status - Winter 1998
The goal for this quarter was the proof of concept needed to assure our
goals can be met, an overall design plan for the project, and the
development of a working prototype. This prototype should demonstrate
the basic functions of the Virtual Midtown, such as an interactive 3-D
demo environment that uses existing object models and allows multiple
users to navigate the environment and for each to view the actions of
the other.
Virtual Representation of Midtown
As planned, the initial proof of concept demo navigates through
a false-model of the Ga Tech campus. The Virtual Midtown project
has yet to import data on the entirety of the Midtown terrain.
Platform
The demo currently runs only on the Irix SGI machines in the GVU
laboratories at Ga Tech.
Client-Server Communication
The demo is able to maintain position location and client-server
communication for at least five clients, which was the target for
this quarter.
Agents
The demo does not include an autonomous agent, though it does include
multiple human-controlled agents. The client-server framework was
completed late enough in the quarter that there was insufficient
time to incorporate AI routines.
User Interface
User Interface is currently being handled by the SVE package, as
originally designed. Numerous performance issues with SVE have
been raised, however, and it may be scrapped in the future.