ATLAS recently released a new video that celebrates the ACME Lab and its commitment to designing technologies to support creatives. Directed by Professor Ellen Do, the lab researches computational tools for design, creativity, cognition, tangible and embedded interaction, and computing for health and wellness.
[video:https://vimeo.com/643703302]

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Creating a virtual reality environment typically requires those creating the environment to be well-versed in coding.

Julia Uhr, an ATLAS PhD student and researcher in the ACME Lab, has created a fun 3D visual programming language that empowers novice coders to create customized VR environments while inside those environments.

Called POPO (Pop On Pop Off), the coding language’s 3D block structure executes instructions from the top-down and from the center-out, allowing programmers to construct their code as complex, branching 3D structures, which helps them visualize the logical and spatial relationships between the code elements. 

“POPO explores how the embodied interaction of grabbing code blocks and snapping them together like Legos can emphasize the playfulness and creativity of programming,” says Uhr, who is advised by Professor Ellen Do (ATLAS Institute, computer science), Assistant Professor Daniel Leithinger (ATLAS Institute, computer science) and Ajume Wingo, associate professor of philosophy.

Users wear VR headsets and use controllers to manipulate the objects in 3D space to build the environment they desire.

To write code in POPO, users choose spheres in the virtual environment to make variables. The spheres can be combined with other shapes, such as “If” blocks and “For” loops to create instructions. The instructions can then be executed in VR by pressing a play button. Running the code adds objects, animations or interactions to the VR scene. 

“The cool thing is that you can write the exact same code in many different configurations,” Uhr says. “You can use that to make it look cool, or to organize your code in more interesting ways or to emphasize different parts of your code because looking at it from different angles shows different parts of it.”

Once these parts are put into a complex function, they form a branching shape, and the different branches can be used as other options for organizing the user’s code and building it as a visual object. 

“The goal is to make programming fun and creative and to help others learn while building VR worlds,” Uhr says.
 

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In 2019, a fire occurred at the McMicken energy storage facility in Arizona, where solar-generated electricity is stored in large commercial batteries. One of the battery modules inside a storage container had overheated and caught fire, causing a build-up of gases. Unaware of conditions inside the container, first-responders opened the door, causing an explosion that sent four firefighters to the hospital and threw the captain 73 feet.

In response to the McMicken event, and other safety-related incidents at similar energy storage facilities, the Electric Power Research Institute () started looking for solutions to assist first-responders and site-operators to see what is happening inside battery containers without actually opening them up. They approached CU Boulder researchers in the 's ACME Lab, asking for help to design and prototype an augmented reality application that would display safety-critical information on containers, allowing operators to immediately see from a distance whether a unit is operating normally and safe to open. 

The system they developed is called ARMAS—augmented reality maintenance and safety—a marker-based AR system that lets the user see color-coded visualizations of battery cells inside containers. Providing a kind of "X-ray" vision, the visual display immediately pulls up temperature, voltage and current for any container viewed. If hazardous conditions are detected, alerts are sent and directions given, guiding users to a safe area. They are also provided with contact information for a subject matter expert. Along with safety applications, ARMAS can also help with day-to-day maintenance by visually linking to relevant component manuals and displaying 3D directions to guide technicians to areas that need attention.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5mSU8zev38&t=4s]

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A game created by Julia Uhr, an ATLAS PhD student and a member of the ACME Lab, received the Best Remix award at the third annual Public Domain Game Jam. 

Uhr’s game, , is a painting-based puzzle that utilizes elements of Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky paintings as levers, and players locate the elements they can manipulate to complete each stage. The game carefully mixes and matches elements of multiple Kandinsky paintings, forcing the player to carefully study their elements, rewarding them with hand-crafted animations.

Julia Uhr

ATLAS faculty and the jurors found the game to be beautiful and enjoyable.

“It's a simple game that is as abstract and intriguing as the works it draws from,” wrote.

“I found it poetic, witty and beautiful,” said Ellen Do, professor of computer science with the ATLAS Institute and Uhr's advisor.
 
“What a fun puzzle game!” said Shaz Zamore, ATLAS instructor. “A peaceful and enjoyable experience!” 

This year's jam’s theme was “Gaming Like It's 1925!,” and game designers submitted new creations based on works published in 1925 that entered the public domain in the US this year. Kandinsky was a Russian painter and art theorist, generally credited as the pioneer of abstract art.
 
 

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