From HIT Lab NZ
Between the 26th and 30th of January, Dr Raphael Grasset from the HIT Lab NZ ran a 3D visualization course at the University of Canterbury. The course targeted national academics using or interested in visualization and also people from industrial using visualization techniques and software. The course alternated lectures in the morning with hands-on lab sessions in the afternoon. The lextures explored key concepts of visualization, standard visualization techniques, volume rendering and also large scale data visualization (e.g. coupling 3D visualization with Supercomputer simulation).
- Dr Julian Looser and Dr Andreas Duenser from the HIT Lab NZ also gave lectures on 3D Interface and Perception for visualization. On the last day there was a seminar session with 4 invited speakers:
- Dr Neville Churcher (COSC, University of Canterbury)
- Phil Bartie (GRC, University of Canterbury)
- Prof. Alan McKinnon (Faculty of Environment, Society and Design, Lincoln University)
- Dr Roy Davies (CTO, Research Director, Nextspace)
The course was very successful with 20 attendees (17 academics, 3 from industry. Many of the attendees were students from the FRST MARS Fund Project the the HIT Lab NZ is involved in.
The lab session was supported by the technical help and facilities provided by the Computer Science and Software Engineering Department from the University of Canterbury.
Based on positive feedback from the course, the HIT Lab NZ will offer a similar course next year and will also teach visualization material in other University of Canterbury courses. We are seeking to grow 3D visualization skills and competences in New Zealand.
