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EW reporter Alex McCarthy spoke with Robert Owen, director of Imagination’s worldwide university programme and Darren McKie, lecturer and fellow of the higher education academy, department of computer science and technology at the University of Hull, who helped develop the materials.
We previously covered the course materials for their release in 2015.
An Introduction to Mobile Graphics 2020 Edition includes teaching materials and practical exercises that use the company’s PowerVR GPUs.
Of the initial collaboration, McKie explains “A previous student of mine was an employee of Imagination, and when Robert started the course, the employee suggested he contact me.”
McKie’s specific research area is pedagogy, the study of teaching itself, which made him an ideal choice to develop the module.
Since consumers increasingly interact with graphics on their mobile devices via games and user interfaces (UIs), it’s important developers understand the specific constraints of mobile devices where power-efficient rendering is vital.
The course has been developed such that little previous knowledge of graphics is required. The modules cover mobile graphics technologies and their architectures; the PowerVR framework for mobile graphics development; mobile graphics software development kits (SDKs); texturing; transformations and example shader code including lighting models.
Owen says the PowerVR SDK is acknowledged as a leading software environment, and boasts powerful tuning and debugging features.
The module would be most suitable for inclusion as part of a games programming degree, McKie suggests, but could also fit into a computer science degree or any course that teaches graphics in low power applications.
Originally, the module supported OpenGL ES version 2.0, which enabled students to learn vertex and fragment shader code. The 2019 edition however, brings support for OpenGL ES up to version 3.2 and adds examples using Vulkan.
McKie says “Technology has moved on significantly, as it does in graphics. Version 3.2 has the previous shaders, but introduces a lot of new tech, tessellation for instance.”
In addition, the course includes lecture slides with integrated presenter notes, practical exercises including model solutions, and example exam questions and answers. The practical exercises use the PowerVR OpenGL ES emulator, a Chromebook, or the BeagleBone Black. Examples of mobile games and technology demonstrations give students an intuitive idea of the capabilities of the mobile GPU.
McKie says “There is an amazing opportunity for mobile games developers, and this new course enables students to seize this opportunity. They will learn how to engineer, code and optimise rendering applications, enabling them to create games that can do many things, whilst enabling users to play games for longer periods through lower power consumption.”
The original materials were downloaded by around 200 universities, and likely put into use by some 100, estimates Owen. He hopes the 2020 edition, which is available in Chinese in addition to English, will see higher uptake.
An Introduction to Mobile Graphics 2019 Edition course materials will be available for download from the Imagination university programme website. Educators and students can access the module free of charge. It will be available in March 2020, however if users register on the site now they will be notified as soon as the materials become available.
