Ahmanson Lab: Working Groups - 2021-2022
WebXR is a protocol that allows the building and distribution of immersive 3D environments that are accessible from a web browser. Using techniques in VR development and graphics, this working group developed tools and experimental apps to explore building features for web based virtual reality. After a few intensive workshops exploring VR development with Three.js, participants started to research controller interactions, particle effects, and text rendering. Participants explored concepts in user interface, content distribution, scientific visualization, and experience design.
Building off of the previous year's Working Groups that created an open EEG lab, published a bioethics paper, and secured funding from Visions and Voices, this group created technologies to stream, process, and visualize brain data in order to explore bioethics and brain-computer interfaces. One project is a cross-platform streaming app for OpenBCI EEG data that empowers users to create and partake in multi-brain experiences—from thought-controlled games to generative art visualizations. Participants shared these techniques with budding neuroscientists and immersive experience designers.
Another facet is to encourage international cooperation for BCI based generative art, VR, and game design through the Brains at Play initiative. In partnership with a variety of departments on campus, this working group helped produce a worldwide competition and started a Discord community for these topics.
Minerva is a fully controllable mannequin robot with motors, camera, a microphone, and small Linux based microcontroller, built by Professor Phil Ethington. This group explored topics in network architecture, object recognition, text-to-speech, locomotion, and 3D user interfaces.
Participants gathered for hands-on, informal, and collaborative tinkering for Raspberry Pi development on Tuesday evenings at 7pm at the Ahmanson Lab.