On August 9th we welcomed Dr. Janet Morrison, Sheridan's eighth President and Vice-Chancellor, along with Andrea England, Vice Provost, Research to SIRT Stage 10.
The reason for the visit? Sheridan students from different faculties and backgrounds showcased real-world projects and applied research completed during their time at SIRT. The summer months are exciting at SIRT—this year 19 Sheridan Co-op students contributed to groundbreaking research projects. This is the highest number of students SIRT has ever had in a semester and is a reflection of our growth over the past few years.
The day was organized by Lindsay Angus, Jr. Project Co-ordinator and Gursimar Anand, Marketing Assistant who are both currently on their co-op at SIRT.
- The Bachelor of Game Design students showcased the Capture Lab, a Virtual Reality Experience designed to virtualize SIRT's internal and external projects in an immersive environment. This environment was created by the game design students from start-to-finish and showcased their exposure to VR and the Unreal gaming engine during their time at SIRT.
- The Bachelor of Film and Television (BFTV) students presented their work on developing media content for SIRT, including the SIRT in 360 Vlog--a one of a kind vlog using a 360 camera to capture SIRT and the City of Toronto. Other content produced included SIRT Co-op Student spotlight interviews and a SIRT Advanced Tech spotlight series that included footage of motion capture projects.
- The Bachelor of Animation students showcased their work with Cream Productions, where Faceware technology was used to transfer facial motion capture data onto a 3D character. They also showed their work with the software XGen to create more realistic hair styling for virtual characters in a real-time engine.
- The Bachelor of Interaction Design student showcased a camera controller that was built with a combination of an Arduino micro-controller and 3D printed parts. This camera controller grants a more flexible control of studio cameras that stock controller setups do not afford. The controller assists with settings such as shutter speed, focus, gain, frame rate and white balance of up to eight Blackmagic Design Micro Studio Cameras at once.
- The Bachelor of Mobile Computing, Software Development & Network Engineering (SDNE) students showcased two of their key projects:
- The first portrayed a virtual human as a movie ticket attendant with real-life interactions. Animation students created the virtual environment to replicate a cinema ticket booth, while the Mobile Computing and SDNE students created/designed the logic and rule sets for responses from the Virtual Human AI.
- The second project was a VR flight simulator with motion chair support. This chair incorporates four 3" actuators allowing for three degrees of freedom (3DoF) and enables the simulated experience of heave, pitch, and roll (up-down, forward-backward, and left-right). The simulator also plans to feature an integrated credit card payment system so it can be monetized at local flight museums and VR arcades.
At the conclusion of her visit, the President applauded the value of learning on the job, "Co-op offers experiential learning that helps connect students to the real world," says Janet. "Sometimes you have to get up and do things."
See more of this visit on Twitter here or Instagram here. Matt Rempel, Sheridan's Associate Dean of Co-operative Education says this visit was, "A shining example of how Co-op is a 'win-win-win' for students, industry, and post-secondary education!"
