Virtual Reality Course - A Natural Enrichment of Computer Graphics Classes

Abstract

This paper shows how the Virtual Reality (VR) course can naturally extend and practice a wide range of Computer Graphics (CG) principles and programming techniques. Thanks to real-time processing requirements, the attention is paid to efficient modeling conventions, time saving rendering approaches, and user interfaces allowing a smooth navigation in a virtual environment. All these issues play an important role especially when designing virtual worlds targeted to the web, i.e. utilizing VRML/X3D standards. The paper presents a structure and related information of the VR course that has been taught at various universities during the last six years. Our experience clearly demonstrates that students appreciate its contents even if they already completed courses on 3D graphics.