Category Archives: Grants

Grants

Press: Daily Egytian

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On March 18, 2010 Daily Egyptian ran a story about a professor who is studying how video game players learn… ;-)

Christian Sebastian Loh turns on his 72-inch liquid plasma, high-definition rear projector TV in order to operate his Alienware 5500 desktop computer to play video games in 3-D.Loh does not play these games himself; he studies the way people play the games. He received a $70,000 grant from the U.S. Army in 2009 to study how video games help people learn.

The grant is called the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, and allowed Loh to purchase the material necessary to pay for virtual environment equipment that allows him to study people who play video games.

Loh, an assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Services, said when the university found out he was buying an Alienware computer they were a little skeptical. “They asked me, ‘Why are you buying a toy?’” …

Read full article here.

Note: It would appear that the 72-inch rear-display Digial Plasma Liquid (DLP) TV is really a crowd-puller! Not only have the 3 local/regional newspapers all reported about the Plasma TV (and the DURIP grant), the local TV and Radio stations have also send reporters to interview me about it. Wow!

V-Lab, 72" 3D-capable DLP and avatars

3D-Ready DLP

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In order to create the 3D-MUVE I had envisioned for the V-Lab, I needed a way to generate a 3D world. (Disclaimer: the idea was formed in Oct 2008, WAY before I watched James Cameron’s Avatar in 3D.)

Now, the Alienware with the ATI Radeon 5870 (Eyefinity) may have been set up for “surround gaming”, but unfortunately, the high-end Radeon will not do 3D it is now possible to do 3D using the ATI Radeon cards with iZ3D’s driver! I had originally thought that a PC with an NVida card that is hooked up to any large screen would do it, but to my dismay, it was not so. I was hoping to get the new Samsung LED TV at 240 Hz, but (shocking) they are not 3D ready! There used to be two manufacturers who produce 3D-ready DLPs (i.e. Samsung and Mitsubishi), but it appeared that Samsung has dropped out of the race. So Misubitshi is now the only manufacturer that is making 3D ready DLPs. [The new 3D ready TV doesn't use cyan-red color separation to show the left-right image, instead they made use of polarization technology (as in the case of JC's Avatar). Rear-projected DLPs are different because they convert the left right stream into a checker-board patterns (white-on, black-off) to project the correct image to each of the two eyes.] (More on “3D ready TV/DLP” in this article.)

Answer: The 3D glasses from Avatar will not work with nVidia’s 3D kit. Those glasses will work with 3D projectors that use polarization technology. :-(

Answer 2: Added on Feb 3, 2010: iZ3D & ATI Radeon will be the answer! :-)

Anyhow, I had to order a GeForce GTX 285 for the Alienware computer, in order to turn it (from a surround game machine) into a 3D MUVE generator. The card arrived yesterday, and I couldn’t wait to try it.

After installing the needed software drivers and connecting the hardware (like the image shown below), I was instructed to turn on the 3D glasses and put it on. What I viewed next was several 3D photos, but (wow!) that initial effect was totally mind-blowing! You totally need to see it in order to believe it.

Connecting: PC » 3D Vision kit » DLP

Connecting: PC » 3D Vision kit » DLP

Note the 3D glasses emitter port in the diagram? Most of the time, they are simply labeled as “3D Sync Out” behind the DLP. And yes, a DLP with this 3-pin port is 3D ready. A DLP  without it is not a 3D ready DLP.

3D Sync Out port

3D Sync Out por

Since viewing 3D photo is working fine, I then fire up NWN2 to see how well it fare under the 3D settings. Unfortunately, even though I can “sense” the 3D-ness of the NWN2 game world, the 3D effect was no way near as spectacular as the 3D photos. [Perhaps I should have checked nVidia's list of "approved" 3D-games first? NWN2 was not listed as compatible at all.]

Since I ran out of time today, I will be back tomorrow to report on Resident Evil 5 — which is one of two 3D ready games currently available on the market. (The second one being Batman: Arkham Asylum).

Apart from the 3D readiness, I noticed two oddities.

  1. the PC screen was cut off by the DLP. (I lost about 1-2 inches of screen real estate all around)
  2. there is no sound output through the DLP (I am connecting it from PC to DLP using HDMI)

There are some suggestions on how to fix them on the Web and in the product manual. Perhaps I will work on it tomorrow and report a fix. (Stay tuned.)

P.S.: Came across the 3D Vision Blog which discusses 3D gaming. There is even a write-up and AVISynth plugin for converting 2D movies to 3D. Hmm…. interesting!

Aurora ALX

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Alienware Aurora ALX Desktop (Gaming Rig)

The Alienware Aurora ALX for the V-Lab arrived today! Yay! :twisted:

The thing is a monster! It is easily 1.5 time bigger than my Dell XPS.

Here’s a comment from someone who received their first extended ATX case:

This thing is HUGEEE. My jaw hit the floor when i took it out of the box.

(Heheh! I felt the same way.) The thing is heavy, too. I need help just to lift the chassis up to the trolley in order to cart it back to my office.

My purchasing officer commented that the big box that house the chassis (alone) is like a small house.  Noticed I did not say anything about a monitor? That’s because I did not order one!

I was hoping to try out some of the screens before I commit on which monitor to purchase.  However, I do have two 28″ Hanns monitors with me right now, so I can begin testing…

The fins on the top of the chassis (mothership?) actually fan out (open up wider) as you boot up the machine — it also changes position according to the fan speed. You can also change the color of every LED panel on the chassis, with matching (or not) color on the keyboard and mouse. (COOL!) No wonder people said this is a toy!!! (Let me add, big toys for big boys!) :mrgreen:

Alright, need to calm down… and get on with more important business…

Setting it up was easy. Then I installed Resident Evil 5. (Oh, why is it in Japanese? Turn out there was a bug as Konami left it default Japanese language.) Go figure! So now everyone else (including us here in US) have to guess at the installation process on screen.)

Now, since I have two monitors (1900×1200) side by side, I should be able to get 3800×1200… Errm, I can;’t find 3800 x 1200 at all. In fact, the game’s highest resolution is just 1900×1200. This is not cool. What went wrong?

Let’s see: the ATI’s are in Crossfire mode, and I do have DVI to HDMI for both monitors. (Changing one of them to HDMI/HDMI doesn’t make any differences, except I do get HDMI audio while playing BlueDisc.) Something is not right…

A search on WideScreenGamingForum (WSGF) revealed that Dragon’s Age has released a patch for Eyefinity users! (Patch 1.01b). So this means, no every game will pick up the resolution automatically.

Further search on Anandtech revealed something about “grouping the monitors into a Single Large Display”. Hmm, I will try that tomorrow, and ask G. to purchase Dragon Age.

Found the problem: It seemed that not only do I need 3 monitors, but I also must have 3 different cables in order to run surround game mode (see this post for more information). Aiyayah!

Alienware

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I have put in an order for a new Alienware computer for the V-LAB.

When the order went up to the Purchase Department, our Purchase Manager had a fit. Two days later, my order was returned with a polite suggestion for a Dell Studio XPS as substitute. The reason? Apparently, the Alienware was considered to be a “Toy” (and is therefore, not suitable for higher institution “use”.) Ahhh!

Sorry! No way I am getting a XPS. I picked the Alienware precisely because it IS a Toy!

Don’t get me wrong: I am getting it because it comes with two (very interesting) pieces of hardware – a pair of ATI Radeon 5870 cards with Cross-Fire!

“Why? You ask?” In order to have a 3-monitor surround game setup, that’s why! (Now, if you have read my last couple of posts, you would have already guessed it. No?)

Alienware "Bad Boy": Intergalactic Domination

V Lab

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“V” is making a big hit on TV screen. Perhaps I could use it to name my new lab? :-D

I had originally wanted to call it the MUVE Lab, but it will likely not allow for multiplayer — at least not yet.

So, how about Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Lab? I actually like VLE a lot. Unfortunately, if you do a search for that term, you will find that it has been over-used as a sexxy name for Content Management System, or Learning Management System. (What?) This is so wrong! (Sigh!)

It would appear Virtual Environment (VE) Lab, or better still, Virtual (V) Lab  will do. Perhaps I should put a “V” poster on the door? What do you think?

Will something like this work?

So far, I have only gotten a 72″ backlit Mitsubishi plasma TV in it. (You need to dim the room to view it correctly). I actually dislike it, and much prefer the LCD TV. But the Mitsubishi Plasma TV is the only one that will work with NVIDIA’s 3D glasses. Since there is a remote possibility for the project to go that direction, I wasn’t willing to gamble.

I have no taken any photo of the lab yet, as there are still a bunch of clutter in there. Once it gets cleaned up, I promise there will be some photos.

More info: There are many explanations for “V”. For example, the aliens are known as the Visitors. However, I believe “V” was chosen for its symbolic value: the peace sign. Hence, the slogan: “They came in peace.” The red V represents blood, as it is a “false peace.”) Some commentators claimed the script-writers took cheap shots at the President’s (Universal) Health Care plan. (It is purely coincidental, as this is not a new story.) History: “V” is a actually a remake of an older miniseries by Kenneth Johnson. However, I am not sure if the universal health care plan is, or is not present in the original writings. (I have seen the original miniseries before, from another world.)