ECE 329 - Fields and Waves I

ECE 329 features a specially designed virtual reality (VR) lab session. These labs are first deployed in Fall 2024.

The VR Labs are designed to enhance students' understanding and grasping of basic electromagnetic concepts as taught in the lectures. The VR Labs provide an immersive virtual reality environment to help students visualize and play with the EM fields that are not tangible in traditional ways.

The VR labs are still under active development and you are encouraged to join our development team. Check our VR Lab project page for more information.

VR EM Labs

Pre-login to the Blackboard system might be required to authenticate some of the hyperlinks in the lab schedules.

VR Lab Policy

• The labs are optional yet they offer bonus credits to the students. Performing each existing VR lab contributes up to 2 points towards the final score. Timely submitted individual lab reports are required to claim the credit. Each lab report is graded on a 100pts scale. Improving existing VR lab functionalities and developing new VR labs earns up to 4 points towards the final grade. Detailed lab manuals on the developed new labs and demonstration of the extended functionalities are required to claim the credit. The source code for the new labs is also required for integration into our VR lab system.
• Your lab report shall address all questions described in the lab notes. Please give reasoning on the results you obtained wherever possible. Please type your lab reports and include the lab name, your name, student ID, and email address on the cover page of your lab report. The labs are assigned and the corresponding lab reports are submitted through Blackboard. Lab 0 does not require a report and does not contribute to your credit. You are required to complete Lab 0 before you work on other labs.
• Labs are conducted in the teaching lab D326. Please reserve your lab session and workstation through the experiment teaching management system beforehand to avoid conflicts. Lab slots are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so please register early to secure your preferred time. Expect about 30 minutes time to go through one lab for one person. The labs are done individually but you need a companion to support you (ensuring your safety, e.g., keep an eye on you such that you do not run into a wall) while you are working on the lab. Thus, you are required to form groups of two and take turns to work on the labs. Each lab session lasts one hour to accommodate this arrangement. Please do handle the delicate VR devices gently in your labs to protect them.
• Steam login is required for the VR labs. Please ensure that at least one group member has an active Steam account before you come to the lab.