Proposal Form for FY14 Student Tech Fee Competitive Process (Oxford)

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1 FY14 Student Tech Fee Competitive Process (Oxford) Instructions Complete one form for each project. Any faculty member, staff member or student may submit a proposal. Proposals are due by February 8, Projects with an academic focus should be ed to the Dean of the project lead's division. Projects with a student life focus should be ed to techfee@miamioh.edu. Abbreviated Guidelines for Student Technology Fee Expenditures The student technology fee should be used to directly benefit students in meeting the educational goals of their academic programs or advance the co-curricular goals of the Miami Experience. High priority should be given to supply access to productivity tools, discipline-specific software packages, internal/external research databases, introductory/advanced training, and access to networked resources from on and off campus. The full guidelines, as well as the complete list of projects funded in previous years, are posted on the Student Technology Fee website: Time Table for FY14 Process 2/8/13 Deadline for proposal submission to Deans or Student Affairs 3/18/13 Proposals posted to Tech Fee web site ( 4/15/13 Recommendations presented to IT Strategic Advisory Council for approval. 7/1/13 Funds released 6/1/14 Final reports due (or 60 days following completion) Proposal Form for FY14 Student Tech Fee Competitive Process (Oxford) Project lead s name: Eric R. Bachmann, Associate Professor Eric.Bachmann@miamiOh.edu Telephone: Affiliation (Student, CAS, FSB, SEAS, SEHS, SFA, LIB, Other): SEAS Faculty/staff sponsor (required for student-submitted proposals): n/a Other project team members: Michael A. Zmuda, Associate Professor, SEAS Eric P. Hodgson, Director, Smale Interactive Visualization Center, CAS Lindsay Grace, Assistant Professor, SFA 1. Project title: Learning Game Programming and Development Using the Unity Game Engine 2. Brief description of project:

2 In this project, we propose to equip a teaching lab with a new, lower cost education version of the Unity Game engine ( and also to acquire a limited number of traditional Unity Pro licenses and plug-ins to support development for multiple platforms, to support the publishing of successful projects without educational watermarks, and to support research endeavors. The lab will be used to support courses across multiple programs and departments and thus will be available to students from a wide Unity 3D is one of the most approachable and feature-rich game engines on the market, enabling rapid development and high quality across many hardware platforms (mobile, console, desktop PC, immersive virtual reality). It has rapidly become an industry leader in entertainment, education, serious games, training, and research fields. (Image via Creative Commons License) variety of majors. More specifically, the Unity software will be used in Computer Science to teach basic, intermediate, and advanced game programming to majors and to teach game development concepts to non-majors. Unity will also be used by the interdisciplinary AIMS program (Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies) to teach diverse topics including serious games, data visualization, virtual reality and simulation, game pipeline and production. It is anticipated that the Unity Game Engine would be used to support the AIMS Digital Game Studies minor and the underdevelopment Game Studies Major, as well as the proposed CSA1 thematic sequence entitled Web Site and Game Technology and the IMS4 Interactive Media Studies thematic sequence. Miami University is currently ranked by the Princeton Review as having one of the top Undergraduate Game Design programs in the nation ( This proposal will help further Miami s success in this area. Specific courses and programs that would benefit from the acquisition of this software are described below. CSA 251 Introduction to Game Programming (24 seats / year): A computer literacy course in which students learn the basics of computer programming by designing and building simple computer games. This course is an elective for non- computer science majors. It is part of the CSA1 and IMS4 thematic sequences and the Digital Game Studies minor. CSA 487 / 587 Game Design and Implementation (16 seats / year): An advanced course in which students learn to design and build complex computer games. This course is an elective for Computer Science majors. It is also part of the CSA1 thematic sequence, and the Digital Game Studies minor. IMS 212 The Design of Play (20 seats / year): A foundational course that develops theoretical foundations and skills in understanding how fun is created, informed by a variety of disciplines that include psychology, art and science. Students build and critique a variety projects which serve as foundational work for the construction of computer games in subsequent courses. IMS 319 Foundations in Digital 3D Modeling and Animation (25 seats / semester): Provides both knowledge in the underlying concepts and practical skills in the design and development of computer generated 3D imagery, including game characters and environments. Some students use Unity to generate interactive visualizations of their final projects or characters.

3 IMS 445 / 545 Game Design (20 seats / year) Develops theoretical foundations, methods and skills in building 3D gaming environments. This is one of the pinnacle courses for AIMS Games Studies Students. IMS 461 / 561 3D Visualization and Simulation (20 seats / year). Advanced course in data visualization, 3D simulations, motion tracking, and virtual reality. This course utilizes traditional gaming technology and techniques for non-game uses like industrial training, research, digital humanities, marketing, and multi-dimensional data visualization. IMS 487 / Game Prototyping, Pipeline, and Production (25 seats / year). In this class students will learn how to create a contemporary computer game, with a focus on the big picture of seeing a game through from early design and storyboarding, to art asset and code development, to user testing and refinement, to distribution and marketing. Students combine the knowledge and experience they have gained in preceding game courses to design and develop an engaging play experience from concept to completion. Global Game Jam Miami University annually hosts around 40 participants, comprised mainly of regional high school and college students, who form interdisciplinary teams and compete with each other and with teams from other sites around the world. Their task is to build a functioning video game within 48 hours on a topic that is unveiled at the event s opening. Many of the teams each year choose Unity as their development and rendering platform. Summer Workshops Workshops are currently offered that teach 3D modeling and character design, primarily to regional high school students for outreach and enrollment recruiting. The character AI (artificial intelligence) and animation tools (e.g., advanced IK and motion blending) included in Unity Pro could enrich the content of this and other similar workshops. The Unity Education and Unity Pro licenses proposed by this proposal will be installed in the Benton 08 computer laboratory, which is space controlled by CSE and adjacent to AIMS laboratory space (Benton O9). Some licenses will be distributed to faculty instructors for use in instruction, grading, lesson planning, and research. The free, but reduced-functionality version of the Unity game engine has become commonplace in these courses and in several research laboratories on campus in which our students actively participate. It will continue to be available to students outside of class or for those wanting to use their own laptops for the basic development that does not require advanced pro features. Continued use of Unity, and the new ability to use its full feature set is expected to provide several benefits and to open up new opportunities and curriculum. A detailed list of expanded features in the Pro (and Education) versions is available here: Benefits to students include: - Student motivation and enthusiasm figure prominently in the ability of a student to master course material. Current students often have extensive first-hand experience using professionally written computer games. They are more likely to be enthusiastic about developing applications that are comparable in appearance and functionality. Unity Pro s toolsets includes simple to use, advanced audio and visual special effects, advanced physics tools, character AI, multiplayer networking, and other features that are difficult to develop in alternative software packages and are not available in Unity s free version.

4 - For advanced students and majors in these fields, it is important that they understand cutting edge digital entertainment technologies. Use of Unity Pro will allow them to master the different techniques needed to develop computer game software, and to take advantage of the full range of features - All students using the Unity would have the ability to distribute their work to friends and family, or to publish and sell their games commercially. Very few technologies can be distributed this freely. After graduation, Computer Science and AIMS students develop software, games, and other visualizations for a variety of platforms including mobile devices, gaming consoles, Macs, PCs, Linux machines, and high-end visualization equipment like Head- Mounted Displays or multi-walled 3D projection environments. Unity is so named because it offers a unified development environment and rendering engine for all of these end-user platforms. The Pro version of Unity and specific plugins for mobile and console operating systems are required for some of these platforms, which we would like to make available to our students. Currently, it is not possible to provide student with a completely professional game development experience, as they can only publish their work for use on a PC or Mac. - The Pro version of Unity permits the development of plugins that can extend its traditional gaming-focused toolset and enable development of other tools and capabilities. For example, students could develop software to integrate real-time motion and map the movement of various sensors to in-game objects, actions, or data displays. This also increases the functionality of Unity for use in research at Miami University, and permits students to work with a common development platform in the classroom and in the laboratory. This permits greater research progress and strengthens our students portfolios. - Unity has a very strong community and a wealth of instructional resources that are available to students. In particular, the Lynda.com video tutorial site that Miami University subscribes to has an excellent introductory course on game development and scripting in Unity Pro. This allows students to watch video lectures on specific topics anywhere, as needed. It also permits inverted-classroom models in the courses mentioned above, in which students receive video-lecture instruction outside of class and work on engaging, hands-on projects during class periods with professors providing 1- on-1 help and guidance as needed. 3. Impact on Students Served or Evidence of Student Need, starting with the number or percentage of students or courses served: The potential impact is significant for majors in Computer Science and AIMS, students in the Digital Game Studies minor, students in CSA and IMS thematic sequences, and students taking electives who are simply interested in how computer games and computer software are written. Seven specific courses are listed One of a pair of student who developed an immersive virtual reality game using Unity. Their project was notably hampered by the lack of access to Unity Pro features.

5 above, which impact a combined 175 students per year. Additional students will benefit from the proposed lab software through their participation in research laboratories and through independent studies, Undergraduate Summer Scholar projects, Practicums, or Senior Thesis projects. This project will broaden the perspective that students have regarding how games and software are developed by providing experience with a development platform that is currently unavailable to them in a complete form. At present, students can only focus on desktop systems and cannot access advanced features that are commonly used in industry. This narrow view limits the range of applications that students are asked to develop in courses. For courses whose enrollment exceeds the capacity of the laboratory (18 seats), or for students who quite frequently want to work on projects outside of class, Unity s free version can enable a large degree of basic development. Final projects that require advanced features can be completed within the lab. We also foresee making a dedicated machine available via remote access that students or faculty could use Unity Pro from outside the lab. 4. Justification for funding this project: Briefly describe additional funds available for this project, if any: No additional funding is directly relevant to this proposal. We have negotiated a 50% discount on Unity Pro licenses obtained as part of this proposal, as well as a bulk-discount on Unity Education licenses (i.e., a Pro version with a For Educational Use Only watermark). This will offer significant savings to Miami University. 5. What happens to the project in year 2 and beyond? Will there be any ongoing costs such as software or hardware maintenance, supplies, staffing, etc? How these will be funded? The proposed software licenses would be installed and integrated into the courses above within the first year, and would continue in years 2 and beyond. The proposed software licenses are perpetual for the current version of the software (Unity 4) and will be sufficient for several years. Incremental patches and updates will be obtained freely. Only a major version change would require new licenses. Because Unity s platform is relatively stable and mature, the current version of the software would still be usable and instructive even in this case, and upgrades may not be deemed necessary. For example, many of the courses above are presently using Unity version 3.x despite the release of version 4.0 Software installation, updating, and lab imaging are a regular part of the duties of IT staff members who support SEAS and AIMS computer labs and require no additional funds. 6. How will you assess the project? Examples: Identify one or more expected project outcomes that indicate project progress and completion. How will you assess the value to students? Measures of enhanced student learning or usage are highly desired. These items should be chosen to facilitate independent evaluation of project completion and value to students. Assessment of the project will revolve around (a) successfully procuring the software and deploying it into the targeted lab; (b) successfully integrating the new software functionality into existing courses, curriculums, workshops, or other endeavors; (c) demonstrable student and faculty projects that leverage Unity Pro s advanced features, native plugin development, and/or mobile OS

6 publishing capabilities above and beyond what is offered by the limited free version. 7. Attach any other supporting information regarding this request. Vendor quotes are attached. Detailed Budget Include all items requested for this project: Item Category Item Requested Number Requested Unit Cost Total Cost Software Item 1 Unity 3D Educational licenses; 20 $300 $6,000 Unity Technologies. (includes bulk discount) Item 2 Unity 3D Professional licenses; Unity Technologies. (includes 50% discount) 5 $750 $3,750 Item 3 Unity 3D ios Plugin; Unity Technologies. Item 4 Unity 3D Android Plugin; Unity Technologies. 1 $ $750 $750 TOTAL $11,250 We are requesting 20 seats of Unity Education, which is a watermarked, non-commercial, and significantly cheaper version of Unity s Pro software. Eighteen of the licenses will be used to equip the student and instructor workstations in Benton 008. Instructors engaged in the development of course material would use the two remaining units. Five full Unity Pro versions are also requested. These will permit students to publish a final, un-watermarked version of projects if desired (e.g., to sell, publish, or distribute), and to enable research use of the software. These licenses will also be available to instructors, to students via remote access, and to students and faculty conducting research in several of Miami s laboratories including the HIVE (Huge Immersive Virtual Environment) directed by Eric Bachmann, the SIVC (Smale Interactive Visualization Center) directed by Eric Hodgson, and the Persuasive Play Lab directed by Lindsay Grace. One of the Unity Pro licenses will be augmented with both an ios plugin and an Android plugin that will permit students and faculty alike to develop and publish projects for use on mobile devices. The systems will be installed and maintained by SEAS IT support personnel.

7 Unity Technologies ApS Address 345 Broadway, Suite 200 San Francisco, CA United States Created Date Expiration Date Quote Number 2/6/2013 3/6/ Prepared By Julie Eickhof Contact Name David Vincent Phone (415) Phone Fax (415) Bill To Name Miami University Ohio Ship To Name Miami University Ohio Bill To Dept. of Botany, Miami University Oxford, OH US Product List Price Sales Price Quantity Discount Total Price Unity Pro 4.x USD 1, USD 1, % USD 6, *Note: This software will contain a watermark that states "For Educational Use Only" Subtotal Discount Total Price Grand Total Payment Terms USD 30, % USD 6, USD 6, Net 30 Quote Acceptance Information Signature Name Title Date By submitting this signed quote, you accept the End User License Agreement, located in full at Your Account Executive is able to provide this document to you as well upon request.

8 Unity Technologies ApS Address 345 Broadway, Suite 200 San Francisco, CA United States Created Date Expiration Date Quote Number 2/6/2013 3/6/ Prepared By Julie Eickhof Contact Name David Vincent Phone (415) Phone Fax (415) Bill To Name Miami University Ohio Ship To Name Miami University Ohio Bill To Dept. of Botany, Miami University Oxford, OH US Product Sales Price Quantity Discount Total Price Unity Pro 4.x USD 1, % USD 3, Unity ios Pro 4.x USD 1, % USD Unity Android Pro 4.x USD 1, % USD Subtotal Discount Total Price Grand Total Payment Terms USD 10, % USD 5, USD 5, Net 30 Quote Acceptance Information Signature Name Title Date By submitting this signed quote, you accept the End User License Agreement, located in full at Your Account Executive is able to provide this document to you as well upon request.