TRAVERSE PROJECT & SOFTWARE PAGE
About the Project
TRAVERSE is an Invest to Save funded project established by the London Borough of Sutton. It aims to help adults with learning disabilities move into employment by training them in relevant subjects, offering support and helping them to find work.
An important factor in this is to enable the participants to travel independently. The Interactive Systems Reseach Group (ISRG), part of the School of Computing and Mathematics at Nottingham Trent University, were enlisted to develop a virtual reality tool that could assist care workers in this task.
Software
The TRAVERSE software is a 3D travel training package presenting a number of challenges that a pedestrian may encounter in the UK. Current elements are single and dual carriageway roads, zebra, puffin and pelican crossings, parked cars, subways and footbridges. Diverse environments can be assembled using all the above elements, creating specific routes and challenges for the user to experience, explore and master.
The current instructions may be read here. These will give you an idea of how the software works.
You may download a copy of the Traverse software below. If you do, please consider registering with us.
This software was built in Macromedia Director 8.5, and depends on realtime 3D rendering, therefore we recommend the following minimum PC specification for satisfactory operation (see Macromedia's site):
- 800 MHz processor
- 128 MB RAM
- Graphics card with 32 MB on-board RAM
This software should run on the following Operating Systems:
- Windows 95
- Windows 98
- Windows ME
- Windows 2000
- Windows XP
For best 3D performance your PC should have at least DirectX 7.
A Macintosh release would be possible, if you think it would be useful then please contact us.
Registration
To register, please e-mail the project at traverse@isrg.org.uk.
We will use this information to assess the take-up of the software, appraise registered users of updates and bug fixes and possibly distribute a simple questionnaire asking a few details about your organisation, and the success (or otherwise) of your experience with the software.
We will not pass your address on to any other parties.
Download
The software is available in two versions: CD and Installer.
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The CD version is identical to the CD distribution version produced by ISRG for the Traverse Project. Expand the file you have downloaded to a temporary location, and then write the contents of that location to a CD. You will now have a CD that will autorun when placed into a Windows PC, and will allow you to install a copy or run from the CD. |
The Installer version differs from the original in that it is a single compressed file that will install a copy of the Traverse software directly to you hard drive when run. You can still write this to a CD, but you will not be able to run the software without installing it. |
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(14.2 MB) |
(14.2 MB) |
Bug Reports
If you experience any problems with the software, please e-mail traverse@isrg.org.uk, describing in as much detail as possible the problem you have, and what was happening when the problem occured, plus as much detail about the system you are using as you can discover. If the bug is repeateble, please describe the steps that should be followed to replicate it.
- Occasional "Script error, Continue?" when selecting "Single straight parked" piece in the editor.
[Current work around, click "Yes" to continue, select again - try to select the road.] - Zebra indicator sticks on if avatar leaves crossing by unconventional route. Timout neede.
[Walking back over the bumps on the pavement will reset this.]
Wish List - Future Developments
In no particular order:
- Buses - add an interaction to stop a bus at a bus stop. Bus number (and destination?) configurable, decoy buses (different number), possibly include configurable bus liveries.
- Emergency vehicles - Add the potential for an emergency vehicle to be generated at random or by the trainer on a key press.
- Individual profiles - Collect statistics under individual profiles. Use profiles to present a selection of the available routes.
- Buidings - Extend the range and style of buildings available on each grid square (e.g. urban/suburban/city centre).
- Virtual Tutor - Incorporate an intelligent agent to scaffold the learning experience. Advice, instruction and goals could be provided by a tutor from within the environment.
- Landmarks - Develop a method to incorporate waypoints/landmarks for route-finding exercises.
Contact
If you are interested in work that ISRG do, visit our web site: www.isrg.org.uk,
or contact us at: isrg@isrg.org.uk
Alternatively, write to us at:
Interactive Systems Research Group
School of Computing and Technology
Nottingham Trent University
Burtion Street
Nottingham NG1 4BU
UK
© ISRG, Nottingham Trent University, London Borough of Sutton