“Photogrammetry for a Virtual Reality Nature Scene” by Johnson and Johnson

This groovy graphics assignment introduces students to the practice of capturing physical objects in nature using photogrammetry and professional software to prepare them as digital assets for building a virtual reality environment in a real-time game engine. Students are tasked with exploring outside, preferably in a natural setting such as a park, nature trail, or backyard, to find ephemeral objects or areas of interest to capture and use to build a virtual reality nature scene. This assignment inspires students to consider the natural environment as a resource for creating virtual environments while simultaneously challenging them to work with an emerging technique for asset creation. It also exposes students to different software packages while preparing the captured data as 3D models which leads to a deep understanding of the 3D pipeline. Once the assets are prepared and the scene is built, viewing the completed environment in VR may strengthen an appreciation for natural environments by viewing a digital representation with an increased sense of presence.