RPI Research Blog

Greetings, During this past week, I've made much progress on both the iOS and Android ports of 3D Visualizer. For iOS, I added a feature which allows the user to import the 3D model from a third party source (e.g. email attachment or iCloud Drive Documents) into the app and visualize it. The user will have options to save/delete the model on device.  I consider this as a very important addition to the features this app provides, as the user can design their wigwaams on the CSDT website, export the STL file, and then visualize it with the app. As for Android, I've started making the UI for this app. Here's a snapshot:                                                      Thanks for viewing!

Hi, I spent the Spring Break learning Android programming, and am continuing to learn more. Once I've learned what I needed, I'll start making an Android version of the 3D visualizer. During the break, I've also fixed a few more bugs and added more features to the iOS version: Fixed a bug where a lack of internet connection would crash the app Fixed a bug where the section headers for Scene Settings would disappear on iPad Added a feature to allow the 2D grid view on iPad to adjust the size upon screen width change, in order to facilitate split view experience Added an internet activity indicator in the status bar to alert the user that the app is fetching data from the internet.

Hi All! This week I spent more time being a graphic designer rather than being a programmer, as I watched a couple of WWDC videos on app icon design, and crafted an icon for this 3D visualizer app. I thoroughly laid out the design on the official Apple icon grid. Eventually, a design I really liked came out: In addition, I crafted a new feature and fixed a few bugs: New feature: Added a switch in settings so that the user can use the slider for two purposes:  Adjust the intensity of the light illuminating the model Adjust the color temperature of the light illuminating the model Bug Fixes: Fixed a bug where the images in the 2D model image grid would randomly change when scrolling Fixed a bug where the checkmarks in the settings page would randomly appear and disappear Thanks for viewing and have a wonderful week!

Greetings again! During this past week, the focus has been on bug fixes and feature improvements. There is one new feature, however. Details are coming your way: Bug Fixes; Fixed a bug where tapping the back button on the 2D details page would crash the app. Improvements: Added an activity spinner in 2D details page to inform the user of loading the image. Added a non-floating custom header view in the settings page. Reduced the number of segments in the color segmented control from 4 to 3 in order to reduce the clutter of UI elements. Improved the JSON fetch process to only show projects in the 2D grid page. New Feature: Added a horizontally-scrollable color picker interface in the main 3D viewer to allow a greater range of color selection. Color Picker Thanks for viewing and see you next week!

Greetings! During this week, numerous features were added to the model viewer, with focus on AR model manipulation and 2D model fetching. Details are listed below: AR Model Manipulation Zoom the model with a pinch gesture Rotate the model with a rotation gesture The user can select the axis to rotate the model on: X, Y or Z axis Fetch 2D Models, Browse 2D Models & Project 2D Models to AR Surface The applications fetches JSON from a CSDT API, parses them, and uses the data to populate a grid-like UI : 2D Model Browser After tapping on grid cell, the app enables the user to view the image in detail along with a description. The user can also view the image in AR or open the project link on the CSDT website: Details Finally, lets witness an AR Demo!

Greetings! During this past week, I have engineered the main functionalities of my app - fetch models, display models and project models with Augmented Reality. Here's a rundown of all the details: Fetch models with URL or use the default model - the app displays an interface for picking models. The user can enter the urls themselves, or use the default wigwam model. View and manipulate the model:  Zoom, move and rotate model with gestures Manipulate the color of the model with segmented control Adjust light intensity with slider Change the position of the light with a tap on the scene Settings Page Change the scale factor used for the AR model Pick from light types: omnidirectional, directional, probe, spot or ambient Pick from blend modes: add, alpha, multiply, subtract, screen or replace Animations! Choose from no animation or infinite rotation Project models to the real world with Augmented Reality Wait until the device has found a surface to place the mo...

Hi All! This is Li (I'm mostly known by my last name), and I am a new researcher joining RPI's CSTEM research group! I've been an Apple fanatic pretty much all my life, which motivated me to enter the field of iOS development and master all the concepts. Hence, I will be working on developing awesome apps for CSTEM, one of them being an app capable of projecting 3D models into the real world with technologies announced at WWDC 2017 - Augmented Reality. For this week, I'll focus on studying Apple's sample AR application, make a fork out of it in order to display our custom 3D models. I'll make another post about the progression next week. If you want to discuss with me in detail about my research, contact me at lij30@rpi.edu. Have a wonderful week!