Don't just play it, create it!
The McMaster University in Canada has designed an innovative program to train students who think their future is in game design. It has deployed a spaceship-like interactive motion simulator to teach them how to develop software for simulated flight or real-time game design. As the university explains in "Virtual reality lands at McMaster," the simulator technology is similar to the one used by the industry for product development. And you can earn a Bachelor Degree by spending some time in this space-ship-pod fiberglass simulator. But read more...
This project has been led by Martin von Mohrenschildt, Chair of the Department of Computing and Software at McMaster University.
Here is the introduction from the McMaster University news release.
It's the shape and colour of a futuristic spaceship. It holds the promise of drawing more young people into the field of information technology.
Below is a nice picture of this spaceship-like interactive motion simulator (Credit: McMaster University). Here are two links to a larger version of this photo and to other pictures of the simulator.
Now, here are some of the technical characteristics of this simulator.
The mini-van-sized simulator can accommodate up to five people and features a space-ship-pod fiberglass shell, interior projection system and a Dolby digital surround-sound system. It sits on a Moog-built, six-degrees-of-freedom (surge, sway, heave, roll, pitch, yaw), Steward platform with a 1,000 kg (2,205 pound) payload and 0.6 Gs of acceleration (equivalent to a high-performance sports car).
I guess that the students will have fun playing with this simulator. But will it be beneficial for their future? McMaster has designed a four-year program which "involves animation, real-time simulation, multimedia, and everything to do with designing and implementing interactive games and data visualization."
Here is the official ad for the "Don't just play it, create it!" program (Credit: McMaster University). If you want to get a Bachelor in Engineering Degree for Game Design, you can watch a larger version of this poster or visit the Software Engineering & Game Design webpage.
So if you're young and want to design games, you know where to go...
Source: McMaster University news release, September 21, 2006
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