Welcome to this website of David Carr. I am a postgraduate student at Charles Sturt University and CRiCS working on a PhD in computer science. My research is looking at the use of computer games technology for the interactive portrayal of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which has potential applications for learning and teaching (so-called "Serious Games"). The Special Theory of Relativity describes what happens to objects travelling at speeds close to the speed of light, and includes many fantastic and counter-intuitive effects such as time dilation and length contraction. The overall aim of my research is to identify what methods enable the creation of a virtual game environment in which players can experience relativistic effects, and evaluate to what extent playing a computer game based on this environment can motivate and enhance learning of this difficult topic in physics.
Relativistic Asteroids: game and online study
Updated 4/8/08: The first run of the survey has been completed and the survey has been deactivated.
I have built a simple prototype game to explore some aspects of programming a relativistic model of mechanics, and situating relativistic interactions in a game. The game is a re-imagining of the classic 2D Asteroids arcade game, with relativistic physics (imaginatively titled Relativistic Asteroids). It is available for download from this page. I am currently running an anonymous, voluntary web-based study to collect data on the game's effectiveness and the opinions of potential users: to participate follow the link at the bottom of this section.
The Relativistic Asteroids game is available for download and should work on any PC running Windows 98 or later. Click here for more information about this game and instructions for installation and gameplay.
Download Relativistic Asteroids (requires Microsoft Windows with DirectX 9.0c): RelAsteroids.zip (664 KB)
d3dx9_27.dll and d3dx9_33.dll is/are sometimes required, here they are: d3dx9_27.zip (1048 KB), d3dx9_33.zip (1567 KB) (or visit Microsoft to update your DirectX).
Survey (Updated 4/8/08): I have been running a short online survey to evaluate the game. The survey asked users to rate various aspects of the game, complete a short 'test' to measure their knowledge of special relativity, and submit general (non-identifying) demographic information.
As of 4 August 2008 the first run of the survey has been completed, and the survey is now inactive. A short summary of the results should be available on this site in September. Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey.
Contact details
E: dcarr@csu.edu.au
T: +61 2 6338 4284
Other sites and resources
| A large part of the inspiration for this project is the story of Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland by George Gamow. In the story, a mild-mannered bank clerk explores a world where the speed of light is reduced to only a few kilometres per hour, allowing him to witness relativistic effects in everyday activities, such as riding a bicycle. Gamow's writing provides an entertaining introduction to the nature of relativity (although, many of the descriptions and illustrations in the story are unfortunately incorrect). |
| The scientific field of relativistic visualisation is concerned with describing what would actually be seen by observers travelling at relativistic speeds. Some of the best computer simulations of relativistic visualisation have been produced by researchers at the Australian National University. Through Einstein's Eyes is a website presentation that presents information about relativity and videos of simulated flights at relativistic speeds. Real Time Relativity is an interactive relativistic flight simulator that has been developed to run in real-time on consumer computer hardware. |
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