Class 4: Demo Prototypes & Paper Outline
Week 4 - sharing demo prototypes, paper structure overview, annotated outline due next week.
February 17, 2026
Schedule
- Week 4 (today): Demo prototype sharing
- Week 5 (next week): Annotated paper outline due
- Demo Day / Midterm: Wednesday, March 11 (time TBD, likely 5-6pm)
- Spring Break: After Demo Day
- Papers due: ~2 months from now (after spring break)
Paper Structure Overview
Required Components
| Component | Required? |
|---|---|
| Cover Page | Yes |
| Title Page | Yes |
| Abstract | Yes |
| Table of Contents | Yes |
| List of Figures / Tables | Recommended (Jose has been requesting it recently) |
| VITA Page | Yes |
| Dedication Page | Optional |
| Acknowledgment Page | Optional |
Key Details
- Paper length: 20-25 pages (hard limit, can’t go longer)
- Final format: PDF
- Published on ProQuest (you create the account, upload yourself)
- PDF must be approved by Jose Olario before upload
- Goes through signature chain: department > advisors (Matt & Camila) > Jose Olario
- Abstract is the most consumed part. Probably thousands of views; paper itself maybe tens. Write it well.
Jose Olario
- Reviews paper formatting for ProQuest publication
- Listed on the official shared syllabus as point of contact
- Checks: cover page, title page, VITA page, abstract, table of contents, list of figures
Make It Count
Matt’s advice: don’t treat this as just a checkbox task. This paper can be a work sample for your career. Put in the effort to make it something you’re proud of. Past students have used their thesis to submit SIGGRAPH student posters (2 students have gotten in). Good conference for IDM folks.
Table of Contents Examples
Three styles shown:
1. Traditional
- Introduction, Background Research, Ideation & Prototyping, Testing & Evolution, Conclusion, List of Figures, Bibliography
- Clear, structured, tells the reader what each section covers
2. Non-traditional
- Chapters with holistic descriptions instead of line-by-line breakdowns
- Incorporates images, graphic design elements
- Still gives a sense of what the thesis is about from the TOC alone
3. Very non-traditional
- Heavy graphic design, almost like an art book
- Still needs to be informative enough to guide readers to pages they care about
Key takeaway: The TOC should be inviting. Someone who reads your abstract and doesn’t want to flip through the whole paper should be able to look at your TOC and know which pages interest them. More descriptive = more curiosity = more engagement.
Demo Day Details (March 11)
- Paired with 2 faculty members + your advisor
- Presenting a working prototype (NOT a PowerPoint about your process)
- Come 1-2 hours early to set up
- Written feedback from professors (scanned and shared after)
- If you need extra setup time, can arrange to set up a day or two before
- Take photos of each other’s work for documentation (easy to forget in the rush)
- Can invite other NYU community members for additional feedback
Past Demo Examples
- Jellyfish installation: demo was one interactive screen + paper prototypes in the back
- VR experiences: showed working demos on headset
- Animatronic wearable: one working flower mechanism with visible internals
- Key point: show something real and functional, even if rough
Annotated Paper Outline (Due Next Week)
- Create your table of contents as an outline
- Under each section, write 1 paragraph or 2-3 sentences describing what you’ll write
- Think of it as a to-do list for your paper
- Structure suggestion: abstract, introduction, research (primary + secondary), ideation, prototyping, testing, conclusion
- Will discuss in 1-on-1 next week
My Presentation
What I Showed
- 3DGS source video (49-second iPhone walkthrough of Brooklyn apartment)
- 6 screenshots of 3DGS scene rendered in Unreal Engine
- Food photos emerging from desk surface (alpha-masked, gaze-triggered)
- Particle decay states (high fidelity to empty)
- VR test recording (walking through the space, memory fragments appearing)
What I Said
- VR experience: viewer enters frozen, static 3DGS space of my previous Brooklyn apartment
- Memory fragments (photo, video, sound) emerge from objects in the space
- Desk holds meal memories (overhead food photos), window holds seasonal views
- As more memories are discovered, space gradually dissolves from high fidelity to particles to emptiness
- Next steps: more memory fragments, hand interaction (touch to dismiss memories)
Feedback Exercise
Matt’s exercise: each presenter gets feedback from 3 personas played by classmates.
Friendly Guest
“This place is filled with the trace of your life. These are the marks your life became.”
Question: Would you record your future living place this way?
My answer: Yes. I’m thinking about 3DGS as another way to archive everyday life. The most important thing about 3DGS is that we can preserve spatial experience, spatial memory. If this becomes a reasonable practice, I would do it for future spaces too.
Challenging Stranger
Question: If the space is reconstructed via AI, how accurate or truthful is it to the memory? When you put on the VR headset, will you experience your real memory?
My answer: There’s no real answer about what a “real experience” is. Experience is a feeling. The visual stuff, the objects, are just a form. That’s why the space vanishes as you discover more. I want to emphasize that the form and the visual don’t matter. It’s about the feeling.
Visiting Professor
Q1: Do you think memory is meant to fade away?
My answer: Yes, memory will eventually fade. But we still have ways to preserve it. We take pictures, print photos, put them on our desk. 3DGS is just another way to preserve it.
Q2: When environments and objects are captured and literally immortal, does it affect their objectivity and your identity?
My answer: This question also applies to photo and video, which are also digital captures. We don’t question our photos or videos anymore. For now, 3DGS is just another way to preserve.
Critique Spirits Summary
| Spirit | Summary |
|---|---|
| Knowledge | Immersive VR experience. Personal room of the creator. Interactive: walking, looking, seeing memories on table and surfaces. |
| Reasoning | ”The argument is that memory doesn’t reside in physical space but within us. Re-building memory is a process of both discovery and release.” |
| Delight | Focuses on memory with interactive elements. Primarily visual. “Table full of food but you just see it, you don’t smell it, can’t touch it.” |
Key Feedback Notes
- Project is visually driven right now. Smell, touch not yet engaged.
- The “want to touch but can’t” observation connects directly to my hand interaction idea.
- The Reasoning summary nailed the core argument: memory doesn’t reside in physical space but within us. Discovery and release.
Reflection
What went well:
- Had a real, working prototype to show. Not slides, not a pitch. People put on the headset and saw the space, saw the food photos emerge. That’s exactly what the professors asked for, and it stood out.
- The decay concept landed. The Reasoning spirit summarized the core argument (“memory doesn’t reside in physical space but within us, re-building memory is a process of both discovery and release”) better than most people could summarize their own work. That means the concept came through clearly.
- The answer to the Challenging Stranger was the strongest moment. “Experience is a feeling. The visual stuff, the objects, are just a form. That’s why the space vanishes.” That’s the thesis in one breath. Direct, no filler.
What could be stronger:
- The opening could hit harder. Right now it starts with technical description (“I tried to build a 3DGS environment into VR”). The concept statement opens with “We record our lives in flat images. But what if we could step back inside?” That kind of framing sets up the why before the what. Lead with the human question, not the pipeline.
- The personal connection was understated. “This is my previous Brooklyn apartment” is factual. But it was your first home outside Taiwan, and it no longer exists. That one sentence changes everything for the audience. Give them that context early, like the concept statement does.
- When the Visiting Professor asked about memory fading and digital immortality, the answer stayed safe (“same question applies to photo/video, we don’t question it”). The written concept goes much deeper: memory lives as feeling, forms are just vessels, the space can let go. That framing is more powerful and more specific to this project. Bring that into the verbal answer next time.
- The decay mechanic was described as what happens (“it goes from high fidelity to particles”) but not why it matters emotionally. In writing, you’ve articulated this beautifully: “the space doesn’t need to hold its form forever.” In the presentation, connecting the visual decay to the emotional concept of letting go would make Demo Day much stronger.
- “Next steps: more memory fragments and hand interaction” is a task list. For Demo Day, frame next steps as design intentions: “I want to explore whether the viewer causing the disappearance changes their relationship to the memory.”
Notes
- Word doc template for paper format will be uploaded
- No more strict margin/printing requirements (used to be specific margins + one designated print shop)
- Think about your research methodology when structuring the paper
- Practice-based projects will have different paper structure than purely academic ones
- The Reasoning spirit’s summary is a good seed for the thesis statement: “memory doesn’t reside in physical space but within us, re-building memory is a process of both discovery and release”