University of Texas ECE Senior Design Open House Competition - Spring 2011 (3rd place)

We placed third in this year's senior design ECE competition here at UT Austin. Here's a little information about our project:

Have you ever wanted a more immersive computer gaming experience?
Tired of spending hundreds of dollars on multiple monitors just to feel like you're in the game?
Kinect not doing it for you?

Well, look no further! In this video, our group of three ECE students (two software engineers and one power systems engineer) made a project that allows for a more immersive gameplay environment. Your head, tracked via the webcam using face-tracking software, can be used as a control input to various computer games which allows for different gameplay experiences. The motorized projector moves along with your head to give you a view angle at all times.

Our open house demonstration used two games: a flight simulator and FPS military simulator. In the flight sim, you used your head as essentially a joystick to control pitch and roll angles. In the FPS, your head was the in-game player's head. When you look right, the in-game player looks right, and the projector pan/tilts to where you're looking. It's almost like you're in the game!

Ideally, we would have more money (we are students, after all) to get more powerful motors, a dome-like projection screen, and the best possible pico projector for the best resolution or perhaps even glasses as a display but we felt that glasses might be too intrusive to the user.

Thanks for watching!

Our project was featured at the following websites! Thanks to those who are spreading the word.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/02/gaming-gets-immersive-thanks-to-union-of-p...

http://kotaku.com/#!5797334/heres-how-you-handle-looking-and-turning-in-a-mot...

http://www.arcticnova.org/no/article/5894

http://gizmodo.com/#!5797767/a-screen-that-tracks-your-eye-movement-so-you-ca...

http://www.picoprojector-info.com/immersive-gaming-experience-using-eye-track...

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-05/video-eye-tracker-and-pico-p...

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• senior design project
• UT ECE
• University of Texas
• electrical engineering
• winning

[rawkmang]

Thanks for all the great feedback guys. We were only a team of three and we really appreciate all the support we're getting :D. Extra thanks to Owen Good of Kotaku for writing a story about our project. We could not be happier, except maybe if we won first. Then we would probably be a little happier.

[ShadowUltra]

Oh, nice. I always wanted to not be able to take my eyes off the screen.

[Vaspra54]

He's just using adv. pod controller, get him out the chair and try it

[sanfelipe007]

@rawkmang eh dude how about a helmet projector? you move your head but not the scenario and a gun whit motion sensor or something that would be amazing

[mabelandhoagie]

which pico projector are they using?

[UTbone04]

I'm surprised that you guys got 3rd place and not 1st. We got 1st place my year and it was just an analog audio mixer. This would blow ours out of the water in terms of complexity and innovation.

[archon808]

This is ridicoulous!

[tumadremeclavo]

@lifeis2shortful im just saying is bad, lol cause it really is, for example your in a gunfight and someone at your hose calls you, you look away and your dead cus ur not aiming no more, when with a remote you can still play without concentrating on the screen

[lifeis2shortful]

@tumadremeclavo Dude its a prototype, don't expect something to function perfectly for the first time, give it some time so they can improve it...

[tumadremeclavo]

@lifeis2shortful And how is that enstein?

[phatgonk]

Awesome But....

Imo - when the head is dead center the side panels to the left and right of"chosen normal view" should be filled Xm Percentage with a blurredm projection to simulate peripheral vision..

Of corse this would mean your staight line of vision would never be able to turn a full 90 degrees, but thats okay.I dont believe your staight line vision does inrl any ways.Probally more like 80 degrees or so.

[ArsenalFan20007]

@tumadremeclavo

its a prototype.