Mike Oren.com

Looks like I'm making up for a slow July by lots of August posts (although this should be a short one). I actually didn't waste my entire weekend for once and made some updates to my audio game before releasing the first build since December to the SourceForge Project Page for download. This version is optimized for Windows XP (instructions for Linux users can be found within the 'Documentation' folder--OS X users, including myself, are out of luck). To install in Windows, simply make sure you get Python 2.4 and then simply copy the 'fmod.dll' file under the Documentation folder into your System32 folder. The Fmod.dll can also be obtained from fmod.org, but make sure you get version 3.75. Then just double-click the 'main.py' file for the version you want to play (there's a networked version--it requires the client to know the IP/hostname and level of the server, a training version, and then the regular game). The controls can be found in post number eight here.

Other than that, I went to Reiman Gardens this weekend which I've been wanting to do for awhile but kept finding excuses as to why not to go that particular weekend. It was pretty nice, plus I enjoyed getting outside and getting some fresh air and some probably much needed exercise. Also, until Danielle sees this post and makes me get rid of this portion of it, I was also looking at it to see if it was a viable location for holding a wedding and reception (as it's only $750 for the location). I thought it was nice (see my photos), but she wasn't a fan. We may look into the Chicago Botanical Gardens or another location with lots of flowers, as with the exception of the bouquet, that would save us money so we wouldn't have to buy all of the flowers for the reception and all that. Of course, first she has to accept the proposal (she has some crazy notion that being engaged means she has to start planning the wedding and doesn't want to do that while trying to get through her senior year... that and it doesn't help that her parents/entire family are the exact opposite of extremely supportive about this situation).

Beyond that, I did a little bit of work for my HCI class, played around with the FMOD API for the C6 demo group that I'm part of, and played a little bit of Animal Crossing for the Nintendo DS (I now have the 3rd upgrade of Nook's shop and my house). I also found out that She Wants Revenge is going to be in Des Moines, IA on November 1st and tickets are only $15... I want to go (and the price is right), but nobody to go with at the moment, so I'll probably end up not going, which kind of stinks, but that's the price you pay for moving to a new area (and maybe I'll meet a She Wants Revenge fan before the concert date and end up going).

I've had my first classes at Iowa State, so I thought I'd give a quick update those. My Electronic Music Synthesis course looks like it will be both useful for my research that will require real-time sound synthesis to represent data points as well as being an enjoyable course. The work load for it seems fairly light--especially when compared to the courses I've had at DePauw--the only requirements are some weekly lab assignments, a written test at one point, and then a final project (where I can either create an original electronic music composition or create my own Reaktor synthesizer--basically choosing the sound generators, additional features, and organizing the UI). Both of those final project options also include a paper explaining the project and the reasoning behind the decisions. Nothing too difficult, but then it is only at the undergrad level.

My other class is the Cognitive Psychology of Human Computer Interaction and I was given three choices on how to complete it--either watching video lectures, reading the associated book, and then taking a final exam worth the entire grade (an option I would never touch because even though it's an essay exam, and I tend to do fairly well on those, it just seemed like an option where I wouldn't get as much out of); another option was watching the video lectures, reading the associated texts (different than the associated texts for the first option), reading research papers of my choice with an annotated bibliography due at the end of each week, and then culminating in a final paper that serves as a literature review; finally I had the option of going to class, participating in class and by submitting at least weekly entries on to the wiki regarding the topic of the week, preparing a lecture, and then giving a lecture. I was torn between those last two options, but ultimately chose the option of actually attending class since it appears that it will be fairly interesting and since I'm considering a career in academia, I should probably get some experience giving lectures.

I technically still have one more class, a seminar that meets on Friday mornings, but as that just requires weekly readings and participation in the discussion (for a whopping 1 credit) I'm not counting that as the workload is nothing (being a former English Writing major--who almost decided to go the literature route instead--reading is nothing and from what I've heard the readings are all 50 pages or less, which is less than a quarter of the amount of reading I've had in some DePauw classes... plus, I enjoy discussions as they give you a chance to be exposed to new ways of thinking).

Outside of the classroom, I've been hitting a brick wall with my research at the moment, as I've been trying to extract meaningful data from the H3D modules in order to determine the color of the pixel I am touching. I will then use that data to change the haptic feel accordingly and possibly even use it to generate the tonal feedback. The H3D developers have been EXTREMELY helpful in leading me toward the right direction, but the H3D API is quite large and I've only been playing with it for a little over a week... It also doesn't help that this is the first time I've programmed in C++ for about 8-9 months (when I finished over at DePauw in December)--and even my alst semester of DePauw didn't have that much C++ programming as Operating Systems didn't have very many programming assignments and my senior project was all done in Python (H3D also uses Python, but I need to mess with the lower level source since Haptics is a time critical event). I'm sure I'll get it soon, and research wouldn't be research without a couple of hurdles. Still, it's frustrating putting over twenty hours into something and not getting many results (although I HAVE learned a lot about the H3D API in the process, which will be useful in the future).

On a final note, the HCI Student Seminar group had a social event over at a local restaurant bar last night. I'm not much of a drinker (just an occasional wine, mixed drink, or shot), but it was still a lot of fun--probably partially because I've felt slightly isolated out here (only 1-2 other people work in the Haptics lab and I'm seperated from them by over 10 feet and a cubicle wall... plus there weren't that many other new HCI students here during the summer). It was also very informative, as I learned more about the culture of the HCI group and about the nuances of the various professors within the group (no faculty members were there, so people felt fairly free to speak openly about their advisors...) And from that I have to say that it seems like I have one of the nicer advisors in the group, so that's always a good thing.

I think I may try to go to Reiman Gardens this weekend since the weather forecast looks nice, but we'll see if that happens as I have a few side projects I want to get done before the work load picks up, plus I hate doing things alone... it's just not as much fun... Although is looking at a bunch of flowers ever really fun? It just seemed like it might be nice (plus it's free) and it would get me outside. Also, I don't think I've pointed it out in a previous post, but both my schedule and my tech blog can be accessed on the right-hand side navigation panel. I keep my schedule fairly up to date, but there will probably be times when I'm in the lab working that aren't scheduled (the scheduled hours only reflect my 20 hours minimum I have to put in--and it also helps my advisor know when he can DEFINITELY find me in the lab).

So, my classes start tomorrow with electronic music synthesis at ten in the morning. I can't say I feel one way or another about classes starting. I like them because I learn new things, but I don't like them because I have to sit through them. However, since I'd probably get caught up in too many things to learn the things I learn in classes, I think overall they're probably a positive thing for me--even if I am stuck in sort of a confined time that I need to show up and all that. I also have a psychology class on Tuesday/Thursday and then a seminar on Friday (my music class meets Mon., Wed., Fri.). So as expected from grad school, my course load is fairly light--most of the work will be done outside of class, which is how I prefer it (because then I do it based on my own scheduling). Sort of surprisingly though, I do not have any computer science courses, but since I'm in the highly interdisciplinary Human Computer Interaction program, I suppose that isn't all that surprising--just a bit of a shift.

And I'll be doing plenty of programming any way, with the research I'm doing for Chris Harding currently looking like it'll be done with H3D (combines OpenHaptics, OpenAL, X3D, and OpenGL in an XML, C++, and Python programming environment to handle stereo graphics, spatial sound, and haptics). Along with that the project Kyle and I started will start going through a much more rigorous user study then he and I were able to conduct thanks to the funding and support of my professor and the help and expertise of Terri Bonebright (a psychology professor from DePauw University, where I received my undergrad). That project page still needs to be updated and I keep putting it off, but I swear I'll get to it sometime before testing officially begins. I did at least change this site's logo (if you're viewing the actual page and not just the link from the RSS feed) as part of my preperations, since that project page is the official page for this project and I didn't think a picture of Danielle and I kissing would be very appropriate for the audiences that would be viewing the page.

As far as other news goes, I also joined a team of other HCI majors that's working on creating a new Virtual Reality demo for the C6 (a 6-sided virtual reality room or CAVE) that is being upgraded to the highest resolution CAVE in the world. I have little interest in working with the graphical side of things, that's just a matter of pushing more polygons and all of that; however, one of the upgrades includes a a dedicated sound server with 8.1 surround sound. So I'm interested in playing with that and seeing how well spatial sound actually works in the CAVE to add another level of immersion to the demo. It also gives me a good chance to interact with some of the other HCI students, learn more about the CAVE, and have another thing to talk about.

During the month of July I ended up with a whopping one whole post to both MikeOren.com and my tech blog, so some of you may be wondering what happened--since I had been trying to update weekly to bi-weekly. Basically, I had become fairly swamped with several "side projects"--finding a long term apartment, moving out of my sublease and into the long term apartment, finishing up the editing of the DVD of my sister's wedding (which apparently now needs to be edited some more...), etc. I'm actually living in the same apartment complex that I had the sublease from, since it was both easier and cheaper than other options I had available (plus the management/ownership changed hands over the summer so I'm hoping the new management will do a better job of maintaining the property). I'm all settled in now though with my TV, video game systems, mini fridge (that I'm using for wine, ice cream, and candy--the rest of the stuff can go into the public fridge I share with the people renting one of the other 3 rooms in this unit; so far there's only one other person occupying the unit). Of course my desktop is all set up now, but I still find myself using my laptop more--partially because I can use it from my bed and probably partially because I still need to clean up the desk a bit so it doesn't feel 'cramped'; it's currently being occupied by my old cell phone that I'm trying to sell on E-bay and various accessories that are being sold with it). I think if I were to get an LCD TV that I could use my computer with at a reasonable resolution than I might find myself using that more often--since I have a wireless keyboard and mouse already. I still use my desktop, it's just more often for recording TV programs, storing backup files, and other more server-like functionality--plus DVD burning. Mostly though, it's that I prefer to lie down then sit up as it's more comfortable for my back (and I'm probably just really lazy...

My Advanced Graphics course was cancelled for next semester, so I am now going to be taking Electronic Music Synthesis so I can use the knowledge from that for real-time sound synthesis that can be used in computer applications that I'm working on to give sound representation of data/graphical items. I've also just about finished programming version 1.5 (or 2.0--I haven't decided how far of a leap it is over the first version) of Moosic so I will HOPEFULLY be uploading the new version of that and updating the project page within the month (although I said I was going to update an earlier beta a month or two ago and I never did that... this time though it's a more permanent version and I'll try to force myself to get around to uploading it). I also hope to make a new gameplay video (in a non-Windows media format) within the next two months.

In other news, I was accepted by Kaplan tutoring company to be part of an audition for a job (4-10 hours a week, my choice how much I work) tutoring the ACT and GRE analytical writing. The extra money will be nice, but I'm mostly looking into it so I can get some more teaching/tutoring experience since the HCI program here doesn't really have any TA positions for grad students, just research positions (which is fine since research stipends are normally better and I enjoy research, but I also do want to get at least a little bit more teaching experience). That's all for now, time to go waste the rest of my day doing I don't know what yet...