Category Archives: V Lab

Virtual Environment Research Lab

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.)

Fundings

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Army Research Office

In case you were wondering, I did not drop off the face of the earth for the last four months… except that I had to refrain from blogging for a while…

Because I was working out the details with the project officers from the Army Research Office (ARO) about the award of the fiscal 2009 Defence University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) award! The DURIP awards are designed to improve the capabilities of U.S. institutions of higher education with degree granting programs in science, math or engineering, to conduct research and to educate scientists and engineers in areas important to national defense. From what I am hearing, it’s not easy to get funded, at all. Since this is my first time applying for a military grant, I am really proud about receiving the award.

I needed to complete a Human Subject Protection Training… with the National Institute of Health (NIH), and making sure the various paperwork get to the relevant parties. All amidst an inland hurricane situation in Carbondale/Southern Illinois area! [news] [Yahoo Comments] And for a time, I thought I was not going to make the various deadlines!!

But after all these running around, the grant money was finally awarded. This is great news indeed because the funding will allow me to purchase the equipments I need for the new direction of research. (Sorry. Can’t talk about what I am buying yet, but you will hear about them in the months to come.) It was funny that the ARO chose to abbreviate my funding request to “Virtual Environment Equipment”! They are not wrong, but I am guessing that they are equally secretive about what they chose to fund – for my protection, I hope? :-D

Now, let’s get to work!

Press: The Southern Illinoisian

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On March 3, 2010, the Southern Illinoisian has a full page coverage on the DURIP grant and what I am doing… The write up is fairly extensive and accurate. They also interviewed Heidy Cuervo-Carruthers (one of my Ph.D. student) in the process and she talks about how Second Life could well be the next area of synthetic learning environment we look at…

CARBONDALE – A lab in Pulliam Hall contains a 72-inch television with HD and 3D capabilities, a beefed up PC and walls draped in video game posters.

Sebastian Loh, assistant professor and coordinator in the department of Curriculum and Instruction at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, received a $70,000 grant from the U.S. Army Research Office to set up a sweet gaming room on campus for research purposes. The goal of the research is to explore using a game-like virtual environment for instruction.

Loh said in the long run, this could lead to 3D instruction in fields such as medicine, where surgeons in training could practice in a 3D environment.

In the short term, the research could help teachers work with students in a virtual environment and track their progress. For example, Loh uses a modified version of the multi-player role playing games “Neverwinter Nights” and “Neverwinter Nights 2.” Loh said using the game, an in-game instructor can track a student’s progress, offer tips and see how the student adapts.

In the classroom, this could translate into a teacher seeing a student’s mistakes almost immediately and correcting them as they go along. He said another focus is “Second Life,” an online virtual world where people can interact through avatars. Heidy Cuervo-Carruthers, a doctoral student in instructional technology, is looking at using the virtual world for foreign language classes…

Read full article here.

V-Lab HDTV

SIU Professor C. Sebastian Loh loads James Cameron's Avatar video game onto a 72-inch liquid plasma, high-definition, rear-projector 3-D television in the V-Lab Tuesday at Pulliam Hall. Loh was given a $70,000 grant to pay for this equipment that will allow him to develop and test real-time assessment tools, which will hopefully allow teachers to correct students.