No More Reinventing the Virtual Wheel: Middleware for Use in Computer Games and Interactive Computer Graphics Education

Abstract

The creation of application frameworks for teaching computer graphics has always been a time-consuming task, alleviated by the use of graphics API s that allow students more scope in investigating and creating graphics programs. A boom in Open Source software and the increasing growth of the game middleware industry has created a huge number of alternatives to choose from. Despite the adoption of such API s for teaching and experimentation, centralised sources of information regarding components are not commonplace; the process for gathering information about components may be cumbersome and is often left to chance. Here, we provide details of accessible middleware of relevance to the teaching of computer games and graphics curricula. Additionally, we describe concerns and considerations when introducing the use of middleware into a curriculum.