1.1 Motivation
Through learning and education, knowledge can be lasted for generations. For civil engineering, most of the complicated techniques are based on applied force and material mechanics and its behavior. As a consequence, analyzing the behavior of different kinds of materials is of vital importance.
In the past, since computer technique has not gained its popularity, everything was just under imagination. Until today, everything has been altered. Due to the rapid growth of research and development and large amount of computer utilities, people start to gain benefits from it in lots of aspects. More and more people are immersed in the world of virtual reality, like computer games, simulation trainings etc. It does bring huge effects and charm. If this technique can be applied to educational purpose, students‟ interest towards learning and understanding can hence be highly raised.
Apparently, it had been proved that computers could help a lot in learning before the appearance of virtual reality. In the last century, most of the computer aided education was based on 2D effects only while the booming out of virtual simulation which requires 3D studio effects, did let students immersed into the
“real” environment. In this way, they can not only gain knowledge efficiently, but also can control the time and scope so as to reach the optimized expectation.
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There are some research shows that learning through virtual reality can let a student gain more than they can by just reading books. Aside from that, evidence also shows that virtual reality possesses a great potential in education. In the field of civil engineering, lots of mechanical behavior cannot be seen by naked eyes, so getting to the laboratory becomes a must. Needless to say, the most efficient way in analyzing the behavior of a material is through experiments. An experiment is a method of investigating causal relationships among variables. It is a cornerstone of the empirical approach to acquiring data about an object to be investigated and can be used to help solve practical problems and to support or negate theoretical assumptions.
1.2 Purpose
In traditional 2D education system, students can only focus on lectures or study materials but no self-experience. They can only imagine the behaviors between particles by words or arithmetic. The following shows the advantages and disadvantages of book studies.
Advantages:
1. Easily understand the contents of the lessons 2. Effectively express the contents
3. Effectively answer students‟ problems Disadvantages:
1. Unable to repeat what has been taught
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2. Time for understanding is too limited in class.
A series of material experiments will be demonstrated through simulation which integrates 3ds Max, Photoshop and Virtools in order to present a novel teaching system in education. In this study, one facet is to investigate the application and theory of virtual reality; another is to take advantage of those utilities to develop a simulation based on the material experiments so as to let students fully understand every process in the experiments before carrying out by their own.
As a consequence, the final target will come out as a virtual laboratory which can be applied as a future teaching system for students. In this way, students can no longer just imagine how things go; instead, they can take reference on the animation before any experience will be carried out.
1.3 Method and Process
Virtual Reality (VR) is one of the most common and important computer aided tools in the 21st century. Through its visual and sensitivity interaction, it is credibly believed to bring its full potential to lots of applications in various fields. Aside from that, VR is also a basic utility for a computer aided system since it is an easy learning interface and able to transmit messages effectively.
The ways on how to make use of a computer in assisting learning has become a study for most of the scholars. Easy learning and easy using are the major criteria in understand a lesson. Learners need not spend too much time to get familiarity with the operating systems, but at the same time, they can effectively
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attain the materials they want. The following shows the procedures of the research:
1. Information collection: In order to display a perfect laboratory simulation, related experiments procedures must first to be collected and manipulate for once.
2. Methods to display: Since the whole virtual laboratory needs to be displayed by animation effects, every step has to be equipped with the latest 3D technique.
The most suitable utilities are 3D max-2009 version and Virtools. Aside from that, another element, Photoshop is added to the work.
3. Scenery production: The production is divided into 2 parts. The first one is the static elements and classroom production. The other is the experiments simulation production. Through the whole process, students can feel like immersing themselves into the “real world” and experience the “truth”.
4. Conclusion and suggestion: Through the designing procedure, we might come across to some difficulties and problems; however, through the experience, we can bring up some suggestions and opinions for a better research in the future.
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