Purdue team creates 3-D version of campus for Google competition
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 07/18/2007
sponsored by
A team of eight Purdue students is one of the seven teams to earn a winning spot in a Google-sponsored competition to render university campuses in 3-D.
"It was a really good opportunity for Purdue students – especially computer graphics students – to demonstrate their artistic and creative talents," said Meiqi Ren, the team leader and a virtual reality programmer at Purdue's Envision Center.
The model, which can be viewed online at www.envision.purdue.edu/gcc/gcc.html, consists of 118 fully-rendered campus buildings divided into sections.
"We had a little over a month to make it happen," said Timothy Rogers, a second year doctoral student in the College of Technology. "We started right toward the end of the semester, but a lot of students were overwhelmed with school work. Once school got out, then the real work started happening."
Ren said building the model was difficult not only because of the large number of buildings but also because of the amount of detail that went into them.
"It was very time-consuming and detail-oriented," Ren said. "We wanted to capture the reality of those actual buildings. It was teamwork. Different students have different skill levels so we needed to keep the quality consistent so all the buildings look equally good."
While the project took about four months to complete, the model nearly didn't get completed at all. A day before the deadline, a situation occurred which prevented a handful of buildings from being completed.
After finding the problem, the students took on extra loads and pushed through to finish the project. The team ended up making the deadline with only an hour to spare.
"It was kind of dramatic," Ren said. "It was difficult but we still pulled together and made it on time."
And the effort proved worthwhile. Although Google has yet to release the team's ranking, the top-seven finish has granted the Purdue team a trip to Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley.
"It's been a long and fascinating process," Rogers said. "To win was really rewarding and it will be interesting to see how this project pans out."
In the following months, the team's model will be incorporated into Google Earth, cementing the team's work before a global Internet audience.
"It gives Purdue a lot of visibility," Rogers said. "Google Earth has become a very often-used tool people are interested in and to go to Purdue and see the campus buildings. Whether you're a current or future student or an alumni, is a great addition."