Virtual Reality Internship Reflection

Executive summary about Internship/abstract:

Spoketech is Chicago based company founded in 2005 focused on helping businesses realize their vision. Our team has a solid experience in IT strategy and technology solutions. It’s a small consulting firm and fortunately they started working on VR(Virtual Reality) environment. I got interviewed by showing them my portfolio of my previous work I done in Unity Engine. So I had the opportunity to work with them on this quarter for past 9 weeks. The company had all the resources for working on virtual reality stating from the software to hardware everything are cutting edge technology. I was allowed to work on high end software such a Unity, Maya, and Photoshop. I got introduced to agile development methodologies. I proved a valuable resource throughout this quarter by expressing my effectiveness and providing there necessary requirements developing the product.

Detailed Description Responsibilities Goals/Objectives:

At SpokeTech Inc, I was assigned to work in Virtual Reality one of their own products in collaboration with Amazon cloud services. I worked in the Maya and Unity part. The team wants me to build the 3D model and import to Unity and already there is a test model was built to test in the VR environment.

So this a cloud based service, before I joined they already started working on cloud services. I was assigned to the task to build 3D models with low poly count so that they can upload to the cloud and download into Unity engine to make their product.

I taught myself to design Maya and went through different websites and watched educational YouTube videos and designed a lot of prototype model and communicated with the team to build a perfect 3D model. To complete the task efficiently I used the already test build model blue print to design the 3D model. In the end the model came what was we expected.

Also, I was involved in VR scripting related work. The project was done using C# language because the unity engine supports JavaScript and C#. I found that C# is easy for me as I learnt it before when I took a class in DePaul last winter quarter. I created simple interactive UI scripts as front end work for the project which everything was done in Unity engine.

Apart from that I was introduced into Agile Methodology; I have learnt the principles for software development under which the requirements and solutions evolve through the collaborative effort of self-organized cross-functional teams. I had to join a website called “Trello” and to work with the team and get a exposure of Agile Methodology.

Also I voluntarily involved myself in photoshop,I can create texture for the models I made. So I had download HD quality images from the Google then I used Photoshop to edit and applied to the modes in Maya as UV mapping.

Internship was with the SpokeTech Inc was from January 11^th to March 16^th. 9 weeks I have spent. Most of the conversations done through Skype meeting. I had to visit them on occasions. I mentioned what I did for every week below:

1^st week – Modeling

2^nd week – Modeling

3^rd week – Importing everything to unity 3D(Fixing up the meshes) and models

4^th week-Programming in C#

5^th week -Photoshop

6^th Week- Programming in C#

7^th Week- Modeling

8^th Week- Programming in Unity3D

9^th Week – Programming in Unity 3D

Major Tasks accomplished:

Tasks accomplished are creating 3d models, Created simple scripts based on the supervisor requirements. Uploaded the 3D models into the Amazon cloud and downloaded successfully using unity engine where every code was written using C#.

Skills That I learned on the job:

I was introduced to agile methodology and C# scripting, I learn a lot about penetration testing with my peer during my Internship. Also, I learn about unity and UV Mapping in Maya. Apart from that I was introduced to Amazon Cloud services to upload the Asset bundle from the unity to cloud and retrieve back from the cloud. Everything was coded in C#. I improved a lot in my communication and other soft skills.

How your education at DePaul helped you at your internship:

The courses that I took at DePaul really helped me prepare for the Internship. The course SE456 (Architecture of games) helped me scripting C# and I have learned about design patterns. That helped me to write code efficiently. I was working on the Unity 3D which is a game engine tool which supports C# scripting so this course helped me in a lot of different aspects. Apart from that I already learnt Maya in the free time that also provided me great help for designing the Models requested in the company. Apart from this knowledge I gained in DePaul University really helped me throughout the Internship.

Also took Optimized C++(CSC461) on last year fall quarter. The subject is helpful for me to work on creating a own simple shader code like phong shading.

Conclusion:

This internship is the stepping-stone for my career. I have met a lot of intelligent people in the firm throughout my internship. I have gained in-depth knowledge Unity VR platform, development from scratch. I have learned to test the code using agile software development process. I also gained a better understanding of how to establish communication with the employer within SpokeTech organization effectively. The dedication and passion I got from the company have made me a lasting impression, and I Feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in such an environment.