In this exciting project I created an augmented reality (A/R) application with a clothing based Image Target using the Unity 3D engine and A/R camera recognition.
DeeDub’s workspace in the Unity 3D engine
This application will let you view through your camera and see your surroundings enhanced with augmented reality. When the camera recognizes a certain image that has been programmed in, it’s able to place a 3D animated character on surface of the image.
Image Target with AR recognition
I programmed the camera to recognize a “Live Happy” logo that is on my wife’s apron. When the camera recognizes the logo it projects a 3D animated action figure walking around the logo. Once the image is tracked and the AR recognition has locked in place, you can move the device around and watch the AR camera match your movements.
Feel free to check out the APK (you’ll need to sideload it via developer mode on an Android device). One you load up the APK and install it on your device, open the app and point the camera at this logo:
In this challenge I was tasked to apply my knowledge of physics, scrolling backgrounds, and special effects to a balloon floating through town. The balloon must pick up tokens while avoiding explosions. I had to do a lot of troubleshooting in this project because it was riddled with errors.
Upon successfully completing this challenge I became proficient in application scripting , debugging, diagnosing and fixing code. I also practiced resolving compilation errors and fixing the cause of an exception.
Working in Unity with Visual Studio Integration Development Environment
In this Unity learning challenge I put my User Interface skills to the test with this whack-a-mole-like challenge in which you have to get all the food that pops up on a grid while avoiding the skulls. I was required to debug buttons, mouse clicks, score tracking, restart sequences, and difficulty setting to get to the bottom of this one. I tested the application, made a log of any errors/bugs in the code and gameplay. Using C# scripting and utilizing various Unity APIs, I completed the debugging, diagnosing and fixing code that compiles but fails to perform as expected.
Challenge Outcome:
All of the buttons look nice with their text properly aligned
When you select a difficulty, the spawn rate changes accordingly
When you click a food, it is destroyed and the score is updated in the top-left
When you lose the game, a restart button appears that lets you play again
I have a wide variety of Metaverse scripting skills, as well as 3D sculpting, modeling and design. Please check out the samples.
I have certifications in 3D sculpting, modeling and animation using 3D Studio Max. I also have skills using Unity, Blender, True Space 3D, Maya, Poser and Bryce
For my final project in Adobe Illustrator class, I decided to show off my creative side, and design some clothes. I look forward to designing and releasing a line someday.
A screen shot of the student document repository user interface.
If the Financial Aid Department is the heart of the college institution, then the Skagit Valley College was suffering from a stroke. The heart was clogged up from the result of years of managing paperwork using tried and true ancient techniques: the in person delivery of hand filed paper forms.
And then corona virus came to deliver the death blow. Due to the pandemic, the college campus was forced to close. Unable to allow students to come to campus and process in person financial aid meant that our college might suffer the same fate as several other Washington State institutions and be shut down completely.
They came to me with this problem desperate for a solution. They needed a document repository that could be integrated with our current Legacy student management system data, but that will also be able to transition with our data over the next few years as the school complete its moves to a new student data management system. They needed a way to assign the forms to the students, and a portal where students could securely upload their documents.
The college had a legacy document storage system in place, aging and in need of replacement. The system had fallen out of development and was no longer being supported. The decision was to either purchase an expensive out of the box system, or develop one in-house. Due to the success of previous projects, the President of SVC decided to have me develop a custom in-house document storage and management solution that would be easily integrated into our student data management system.
During the planning phase, the project management documents were drawn up, key deliverables determined, and the use case scenarios developed.
Throughout the software development life cycle, those documents were referred to in order to prevent feature / scope creep from setting back the projected completion date. Using Agile project management I completed several sprints of user story backlogs, and the scrum retrospectives revealed valuable lessons learned about the techniques used to program the application.
In the midst of the pandemic, forced into working remotely, I was under the pressure to save the college by finishing my application well ahead of the projected schedule.
The project close was met with very satisfied stake holders, and the project sponsor was happy to sign off the completed product.
I was tasked to visualize the data from years of students using the Fitness Center. I worked with C# and SQL server to make make charts from the data. I used Visual Studio to create a WebForms Application and deployed to IIS server. I was able to leverage active directory to provide integrated authentication to this resource.
Screen shot of hourly use report.Screen shot of quarterly use reports.
Profile Of The Skagit Valley College Information Technology Development Team
I am writing this profile about the Skagit Valley College Information Technology Development Team because of the exciting research and development being done in the areas of paperless applications and responsive web technology. This innovative r&d is being done at my workplace so this is a subject that I have plenty of access to, and I am inspired by ideas and curiosity about it. If you use the SVC website frequently, then you will find the behind the scenes information to be very interesting and informative.
AI generated image
In the I.T. office where I develop paperless applications, the clack of heels in the hallway is echoed with the clickety clack of a keyboard that is most likely being worked out at over 50 wpm. There is a distinct buzzing noise that can be recognized as a computer’s fan, clearly straining to remove the heat and keep the hard working processor from melting into silly putty. Not too many people would notice such odd noises, these subtle signs of a computer user pushing his technology to the limits. These cues could easily blend into the background noises that surround our everyday environments and be indistinguishable from the hustle and bustle of the numerous students going about their daily studies.
AI generated image
Our team at the college is responsible for things to do with computers, technology and the Internet. There are 5 men in our core crew of Information Technology Developers. We create and manage the web pages applications, graphics and user interfaces that many of the students use every day. The information technology team that is quietly powering the entire Skagit Valley College information infrastructure is a talented team of Technology Specialists. This diverse group of enthusiastic developers has helped redefine the way technology is used and have dramatically impacted the future of web development. People may be surprised to know that this local team of developers has come up with such a remarkable system of responsive web development that is well ahead of major corporations.
There’s an interesting culture surrounding the information technology offices: they have rituals of coffee and pizza and laughter. They have very critical functions within the community of students who depend on them daily for support for everything from login to printing to writing the code that is behind the scenes running the very classes that they attend. There is a quiet sense of partnership and teamwork. A question is met with a smile and enthusiastic explanation, however I sense they want to stay behind the scenes and quietly keep everything running.
When people hear about the responsive website that the information technology development team created for the college, and how it’s a different user experience on every device, they seem find it very interesting and want to hear more about it. I began with the initial research of web frameworks and responsive web technology, and then I presented my findings to the web team. From there we decided to go with a responsive web site rather than creating a separate mobile site. The technology that we have put in to place can now detect a user’s screen size, and then “respond” by changing the web page to best fit the user’s devices from PC to smart TV to iPhones and beyond.
“Paperless Applications” is a new and rapidly growing field of technology. Going well beyond the traditional web form, this is a very green and efficient way of gathering information. Computer and mobile technology has advanced to the point that it is finally feasible to do away with paper forms and use electronic devices to gather information that a person would normally put on paper. This paperless technology is also a much more secure way to store the information, which is important as usually you are giving your name address and other personal information when you fill out these forms.
Let’s take for example the traditional job application form. If you go apply for several jobs and fill out paper applications with your name address and social security number and leave it with an employee behind the counter you are taking a big risk with your personal information and at the very least your privacy. An online web form based job application is easily accessible and filled out by anyone with a computer or mobile device. When the applicant has finished filling out the application this data is then saved and stored securely and only show the up for authorized personnel.
Some other great reasons to use paperless applications when the data is stored into a storage device, the device may be powered down and it then uses is almost no resources. The information that is stored in this method may be much easier retrieved and displayed in organized reports achieving higher efficiency than paper document storage.
I have future plans for this technology that I would like to use to really enhance eLearning and create a more interactive online classroom environment. I also have an application designed to protect children and sign them in and out of school, daycare or pretty much anywhere. That particular application is currently deployed in one day care and under consideration by the state of Washington for schools as well as the YMCA for their membership needs.
The head of the I.T. Department at Skagit Valley College asked me to convert the paper form that was used for submitting an I.T. Project Request. I used my 3DW DevCloud Tools to whip out this project in a small amount of time. My project management cloud is the perfect way to track and complete this project. As you can see from the tabs in the screen shot, I’m logged into my DevCloud, and have my task lists, notes and planning documents right at my fingertips. These powerful tools allow me to compete projects quickly and efficiently, using the best practices and techniques I have honed through the years of web application development at Skagit Valley College.
