Getting Started¶

Please read carefully through the following sections. After you are done reading, finalize your course registration by completing the registration tasks below. You will get 1% of the final grade for completing them on time.

Registration Tasks, complete by 2023-11-03 23:59.

Enroll in This Course on Lovelace¶

To access the above tasks and other exercises in the course, you need to make sure you are enrolled in this course on Lovelace. Once you are enrolled, the exercises and tasks become visible on the home page of our course: VR Systems and Humans. Otherwise, only general information is displayed; exercise pages are either hidden or outdated to unenrolled students.

Communication¶

To communicate with us and your classmates we will use Discord. Rather than emailing questions to us, we encourage you to post your questions there. Don't be shy! On Discord, you will be able to get answers to your questions, help us answer questions from other students, find teammates for projects, and talk to us and each other 24/7.

Note: a server-wide rule for our Discord is to NOT EVER SEND DM MESSAGES to staff. DMs are strictly prohibited by the admins.

We will email you Discord registration instructions after the first lecture.

Lectures¶

We will hold in-class lectures according to our schedule. After each lecture we will release the accompanying

lecture slides

and YouTube video recording.

Lecture Slides
Youtube Lectures: 2022, VR Systems and Humans, University of Oulu, Anna LaValle.

NOTE: There will be no recording of the first lecture. Make sure you attend it to get all of the information you need about the course!

Textbooks¶

Required: Steven M. LaValle, Virtual Reality, 2016.
Optional: George Mather, Foundations of Sensation and Perception: Psychology Press; 2 edition, 2009.

With accompanying online resources.

Additional Recommended Books¶

Handbook of Virtual Environments: Design, Implementation, and Applications. 2nd Edition. K. S. Hale, K. M. Stanney, Eds. 2014.
3D User Interfaces: Theory and Practice. D. A. Bowman, E. Kruijff, J. J. LaViola, and I. Poupyrev. 2014.
Understanding Virtual Reality: Interface, Application, and Design. W. R. Sherman and A. B. Craig. 2012.

VR-Ready Lab, TS 135¶

You will use the VR-equipped classroom at TS135 during times assigned for lab exercises. You can check the lab times on our course schedule page. We do not require you to attend the labs, as you can complete your homework using a VR headset and a laptop at home, however, you can use these times to get help from us and meet your classmates.

Forming Groups and Checking Out VR Headsets¶

For your homework and the final project you will need a VR headset. We do not have enough headsets for each of you. Therefore, we will ask you to form groups, so that each group checks out one headset from us during the first week of the course. However, in case you own a VR headset, you do not need to form a group, you can work alone.

Each group will collect their devices in TS135 during the first week of the course, at the specific time we later announce in class. We need to know how many VR HMDs to prepare for you, therefore, please complete the HMD survey from Registration Tasks as soon as you can.

If you picked up a Quest 2, it is possible that it's still logged in on a previous account. In that case, you should factory reset the HMD. You can do this by holding down the power button and volume down until a boot menu shows up. Use the volume and power buttons to navigate and pick the factory reset option.

If you picked up a Quest 2 and it has been reset, it should display a pairing code when you put it on. You need to have the Meta Quest app on your phone and pair the device, then just follow the instructions in the HMD.

Start searching for your group as soon as possible! Use Discord to find group members, talk to your classmates in class or in the lab! You need to finalize your group and borrow an HMD from us during the first week of the course to finalize your registration in Registration Tasks and start working on your homework.

Homework, 22%¶

All but one of the homework assignments will require a VR headset; you can use your group headset for it. You can work on your homework together with your groupmates, however, when you submit your homework answers, we want you to work on your own. Therefore, you will submit your homework individually.

Your homework assignments will be released under the Homework page, and they will count for 24% toward your final grade.

Term Assignment, 7%¶

There will be one special homework assignment, in which you take part in a human subject experiment. This is also an individual assignment, just like your homework. You can find more information about it under the Term Assignment page. You will get 10% of your final grade for participating.

Quizzes, 10%¶

There will be multiple quizzes throughout the duration of the course that will not count for grade. They will be released during lectures.

There will also be Quizzes that will count for grade released after each of the learning modules in the course, according to our schedule.

Final Project, 25%¶

There will be one group project and it will span the entire period. This is the only one of the assignments that you will submit as a group. Your submissions for this assignment will count for 30% toward your final grade. For more information, see the Final Project page.

Exam, 25%¶

You will have one online open book exam. For more information, see the Exam page.

Deadlines¶

You can check the deadlines for all of the coursework on our schedule page.

Late Submission Policy¶

Unless explicitly stated, 40% will be automatically deducted for every day that your submission is late. That is, your score on a day, d, after the deadline gets multiplied by 0.6^d.

However, for exams and quizzes in this course, no submissions will be accepted after the deadline.

Final Grade Calculation¶

Your final grade is calculated as follows:

X = 0.01(Registration Tasks) + 0.22(Homework) + 0.10(Quizzes) + 0.07(Term Assignment) + 0.25(Final Project) + 0.25(Final Exam)

You pass the course if X > 60.

The scale for the final grade is: 5 if X > 92, 4 if X > 82, 3 if X > 72, 2 if X > 65, and 1 if X > 60.

Feedback¶

We kindly ask you to leave feedback on our course pages. This will help us to further develop the course and bring the best possible experience to future students!

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