I think it is time to tell you about my project here in Singapore without going into very much details, since there is some confidentiality. To be honest, this project is nothing of what I’m used to as a programmer and web developer, from the technology used to the contents of the application. The same counts for my teammate, Michael Christensen, who is a professional 3D CAD designer from Canada.

Together we have to design and develop two 3D Virtual Reality applications for the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). The first is an application that will be displayed at the International Water Week 2014 in Singapore and the second will be used in one of the courses of ITE. In this application the student gets to be in a 3D environment to study a subject which is virtually right in front of him and also gets to complete tasks without the risk of material loss or fatal injuries, which is a good preparation for the real thing.

The application we’re developing is being build on the EON Reality platform which very new to me, so for the 2 weeks I’ve been here I’ve been doing a lot of reading and watching video’s about this software. We’ve also met some of the team members of the EON Reality office based in Singapore and they’ll be available to us to answer some questions when we need it. The better part of it is, that we get to attend a 2 day EON Developers Training next week, which will hopefully accelerate our learning process.

Because this is a 3D Virtual Reality application we’re building, it’s clear that I have to brush up on some 3D skills also. I’ve been walking through 3ds Max tutorials also for the past 2 weeks. Good thing this software is around for so long, so there’s a lot of helpful content online.

You guys are making good progress – Miss Sock Tin Yeo, Director Academic & Pedagogic Innovation at ITE

So if the two above applications are not alienating me enough, I still have to be educated about the contents of the application and the course it will be implemented in. I’m not complaining but it’s just to give you an idea about my experience. We’re very enthusiastic about the project and are making good progress so far. In fact, they moved our deadline for the first part to one week earlier.

This immersive experience is getting very popular in the education system at ITE since our application is not the first. Except for the real life risks this might also be a less costly way of educating the students. Just think about the possibilities of implementation of this thing.

One thing is for sure, I’m not returning to Suriname empty handed… empty headed I mean :).

note: image used in this post is property of EON Reality