Visual and Interactive Computing (7174.7)

Please note these are the 2026 details for this unit
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Visual and Interactive Computing
Available teaching periods Delivery mode Location
View teaching periods On-campus
 Bruce, Canberra
EFTSL Credit points Faculty
0.125 3 Faculty Of Science And Technology
Discipline Study level HECS Bands
Academic Program Area - Technology Level 3 - Undergraduate Advanced Unit Band 2 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)
Band 3 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021)
This unit introduces students to the principles and application of real time 3D computer graphics, covering the following topics: OpenGL Programming; Display processors and GPUs (3D accelerators); 3D data structures; Techniques to maintain adequate frame rate in games and visualization; Texture Mapping; Modeling of 3d objectives using primitives; View transformations; Simple animation; and 3D lighting and materials.
This unit may be cotaught with 7108 Graphics Visualisation Techniques PG.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Analyse a problem for its suitability for a 3D visualisation;
2. Construct a program in C or C++ using OpenGL to render a model constructed of geometric primitives;
3. Analyse and design a suitable 3D solution for common 3D visualisations as used in computer games or scientific visualisation;
4. Develop an Illumination model for a 3D model;
5. Write a program to apply a texture map to a 3D surface;
6. Write an OpenGl program to texture map a 3D model including MIP mapping, bilinear filtering and depth cueing; and
7. Evaluate 3D architectures for use in science or entertainment.


Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - take pride in their professional and personal integrity
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - make creative use of technology in their learning and professional lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development


Skills development

ACS Accreditation

This unit is part of courses accredited by the Australian Computer Society (ACS)

Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) v8

This unit aligns with the following SFIA professional skills:

 

  • TECH - Technical specialism
  • PROG - Developing software components
  • SWDN - Specifying and designing software to meet defined requirements
  • TEST - Investigating products, systems and services to assess behaviour and whether this meets specifications.
  • DESN - Designing systems to meet specified requirements
  • UNAN - Understanding the context of use for systems, products and services

SFIA skills are defined by levels of responsibility, based on autonomy, influence, complexity, business skills, and knowledge. Although this unit may cover knowledge and skills at higher levels, it is expected that graduates of undergraduate degrees will be capable of operating at Level 2 overall.

Seoul Accord

The UC generic attributes address graduate attributes 1, 6, 7, 9, and 10 of the Seoul Accord. The remaining graduate attributes that are covered in this unit are:

2. Knowledge for Solving Computing Problems

3. Problem Analysis

4. Design/Development of Solutions

5. Modern Tool Usage

8. Computing Professionalism and Society

This unit addresses complex computing problems that have one or more of the following characteristics:

  • involves wide-ranging or conflicting technical, computing, and other issues;
  • has no obvious solution, and requires conceptual thinking and innovative analysis to formulate suitable abstract models;
  • a solution requires the use of in-depth computing or domain knowledge and an analytical approach that is based on well-founded principles;
  • involves infrequently encountered issues;
  • is outside problems encompassed by standards and standard practice for professional computing;
  • has significant consequences in a range of contexts;
  • is a high-level problem possibly including many component parts or sub-problems;
  • identification of a requirement or the cause of a problem is ill defined or unknown.


Prerequisites

4483 Software Technology 1.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

7108 Graphics Visualisation Techniques PG.

Equivalent units

None.

Assumed knowledge

None.
Availability for enrolment in 2026 is subject to change and may not be confirmed until closer to the teaching start date.
Year Location Teaching period Teaching start date Delivery mode Unit convener
2025 Bruce, Canberra Semester 2 28 July 2025 On-campus Dr Girija Chetty
2026 Bruce, Canberra Semester 2 10 August 2026 On-campus Dr Girija Chetty
The information provided should be used as a guide only. Timetables may not be finalised until week 2 of the teaching period and are subject to change. Search for the unit timetable.

Required texts

There is no required Textbook for this unit. Web pages will provide most of the necessary reference materials.

Students unfamiliar with C++ may benefit from a 'teach yourself" c++ book.

The the first week's lecture slides list a number of useful books. 

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Marked Tutorial 1, Marked Tutorial 2 assessed by demonstration during a tutorial, and do not have a written submission.

The main assignment has both a demonstration and a written submission which should be submitted to Canvas. Main Assignment demonstrations are not optional you must demonstrate assignments where required. It is your responsibility to arrange with the tutor or unit convenor when to demonstrate your assignments if you can not attend on the
prescribed day. (its likley that additional virtual rooms will be scheduled in week 13)

Main Assignments must use GLUT and be a project and code and other files in Visual Studio 2022

The late penalties for MT1 and MT2 assignments vary from those normally applied by the university - specifically some late re-submissions are permitted, see the relevent assignment documentation and moodle page for details.

NOTE1: The lecturer/moderator reserves the right to increase a student's mark for academic merit. This is done rarely but can be done for: consistency, elegance, forum participation or creativity.

NOTE2: If a students behaviour could possibly be interpreted as plagiarism, but there is some doubt they will be advised by the unit convener to modify their behaviour.

NOTE3: If the lecturer feels a student is guilty of deliberate unambigous plagarism, the students details and the palgarism details will be passed to the ADE (Assistant Dean Academic) for assesment. Students are refered the the university policy on plagarism in this case.

NOTE4: If optional work is not submitted the student will receive a grade of 0 for that work.

NOTE5: The unit convenor reserves the right to question students on any of their submitted work for moderation and academic integrity purposes, which may result in an adjustment to the marks awarded for a specific task.

Special assessment requirements

1) In order to pass the unit you must Pass the Quizes part of this unit (ie you must get a mark of 25 out of 50 in the Quizzes).

2) In order to pass the unit you must Pass the Main Assignment to pass the unit. (ie you must get 20 out of 40 marks for the main assignment)

3) In order to pass the unit you your total marks must be a Pass to pass the unit. (ie you must get 50 out of 100 on marks in total)

If you fail for reason 1 or reason 2 above you will receive an NX Fail result regardless of your total marks.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is not offered in this unit unless required by the relevant university policy.

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Learner engagement

 Lectures: 24 hours

Tutorials: 24 hours

Marked tutorial 1: 4 hours

Marked tutorial 2: 6 hours

Assignment : 20 hours

Quiz preparation: 10 hours

Tutorials (unsupervised): 15 hours

Reading: 15 hours

Homework 27 hours

Quizzes: 5 hours

 

Total 150 hours

Participation requirements

Attendance in the Virtual room is required to participate in the Quizzes and Demonstrations.

Required IT skills

Students are assumed to be:

  • Generally computer literate;
  • Comfortable compiling and executing a program in a 3rd generation object oriented language such as java, c++, python or c# .

This unit involves online meetings in real time using the Virtual Room in your UCLearn teaching site. The Virtual Room allows you to communicate in real time with your lecturer and other students. To participate verbally, rather than just typing, you will need a microphone. For best audio quality we recommend a microphone and speaker headset. For more information and to test your computer, go to the Virtual Room in your UCLearn site and 'Join Course Room'. This will trigger a tutorial to help familiarise you with the functionality of the virtual room.

Work placement, internships or practicums

Not Applicable

Additional information

The unit convenorship will move to Ghazal Bargshady after some weeks.

Ghazal.Bargshady@canberra.edu.au

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