Alumni

MS Dissertation title:
Massive model visualization: An investigation into spatial hierarchies

MS Advisor(s):
James Oliver

Area of MS research:
Massive model visualization: An investigation into spatial hierarchies

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MS Dissertation title:
Expressive cutting, deforming, and painting of three-dimensional digital shapes through asymmetric bimanual haptic manipulation

MS Advisor(s):
Chris Harding

Area of MS research:
Practitioners of the geosciences, design, and engineering disciplines communicate complex ideas about shape by manipulating three- dimensional digital objects to match their conceptual model. However, the two-dimensional control interfaces, common in software applications, create a disconnect to three-dimensional manipulations. This research examines cutting, deforming, and painting manipulations for expressive three-dimensional interaction. It presents a cutting algorithm specialized for planning cuts on a triangle mesh, the extension of a deformation algorithm for inhomogeneous meshes, and the definition of inhomogeneous meshes by painting into a deformation property map. This thesis explores two-handed interactions with haptic force-feedback where each hand can fulfill an asymmetric bimanual role. These digital shape manipulations demonstrate a step toward the creation of expressive three-dimensional interactions.

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MS Advisor(s):
Deb Satterfield and Stephen Gilbert

What am I doing now?
Develop and present instructional materials and technologies for the purpose of educating wind turbine technicians.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
HCI 521, 594X, 598X

Favorite graduate school memory:
Attending various performing arts events. HCI goes to the Fashion Show was great!

HCI issues that interest me today:
Technologies that provide user experience in ways that cannot be fully realized in the physical world, i.e. augmented reality, to improve human performance.

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PhD Dissertation title:
Exploring Utilization of Visualization for Computer and Network Security

PhD Advisor(s):
Anthony Townsend and Doug Jacobson

Area of PhD research:
The role of the network security administrator is continually morphing to keep pace with the ever-changing area of computer and network security. These changes are due in part to both the continual development of new security exploits by attackers as well as improvements in network security products available for use. One area which has garnered much research in the past decade is the use of visualization to ease the strain on network security administrators. Visualization mechanisms utilize the parallel processing power of the human visual system to allow for the identification of possible nefarious network activity. This research details the development and use of a visualization system for network security. The manuscript is composed of four papers which provide a progression of research pertaining to the system. The first paper utilizes research in the area of information visualization to develop a new framework for designing visualization systems for network security. Next, a visualization system is developed in the second paper which has been utilized during multiple cyber defense competitions to aid in competition performance. The last two papers deal with evaluating the developed system. First, an exploratory analysis provides an initial assessment using participant interviews during one cyber defense competition. Second, a quasi field experiment explores the intention of subjects to use the system based on the type of visualization being viewed.

What am I doing now?
I will be finishing my MBA and starting the new Ph.D. program in Business and Technology with an emphasis in Management of Information Technology in the Business College at Iowa State University.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
While not the class specifically, the project for 521 gave me a greater understanding of the process for writing a research paper. The research from this project turned into a journal publication and the first part of my dissertation.

Favorite graduate school memory:
One of my most exhilarating memories was when I got my first publication in a journal. Actually seeing my research in a bound journal was very exciting.

HCI issues that interest me today:
I am still very interested in visualization for computer and network security and also interface design in general. Also, I have begun to look more heavily at ways we can use technology to enhance education as well as a greater emphasis on statistical methods.

A website I recommend:
Google Scholar and Newegg

Why?
Google scholar: Great place to get a good start on a research topic.
Newegg: Can supply many of your computer nerd needs.

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MS Advisor(s):
Anthony Townsend and Stephen Gilbert

What am I doing now?
Develop educational software

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
I really liked all HCI courses but the most interesting and challenging for me were HCI 575 (Computational Perception) and ARCH 534 (Advanced Computer-Aided Architecture)

HCI issues that interest me today:
Aging in place, aesthetic approaches in HCI, and usability for children.

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PhD Dissertation title:
Conceptualizing design affordances from a cognitive perspective

PhD Advisor(s):
Veronica Dark

Area of PhD research:
In my dissertation it is suggested that a broader meaning of affordance is more appropriate for designers and that a unified account of affordances can be achieved using a cognitive conceptualization of perceived affordances. Within this cognitive framework, perceived affordances arise from automatic processes in the user that either are inborn or have developed over time as consistent interactions produce changes in long-term memory. Well learned conventions are examples of the latter. The cognitive mechanisms responsible for how perceived affordances arise and how they affect the cognitive system are presented along with a flowchart to help guide designer decisions. Three experiments were also reported that examined whether empirical differences exist between affordances and conventions.

What am I doing now?
I have accepted a tenure track position as the director of a NEW Human Factors & Usability Testing Graduate Program at Missouri Western State University. Further, I will be running a Human-Centered Design research lab and teaching mostly Human-Computer Interaction graduate courses with a focus on the cognitive side.

HCI issues that interest me today:
My research goal is to apply cognitive theories within interaction design to facilitate the usability of everyday interfaces.

A website I recommend:
http://www.upassoc.org/
http://www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/index.html

The Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) promotes user-centered design within real world contexts worldwide!

Why?
The Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) promotes user-centered design within real world contexts worldwide!

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MS Dissertation title:
3D Hand gesture recognition using a Zcam and an SVM-SMO classifier

MS Advisor(s):
Vasant Honavar and Stephen Gilbert

Area of MS research:
With the technology advances in the last years input devices like keyboard and mouse are not longer enough. There is a increasing need for more natural means for interaction between the user and the computer. Multi-touch devices and computer vision application are making possible the interaction through gestures. In this work the triple problem of finding and tracking the user hand, recognizing the pose of the hand and the rotation angle of such pose have been addressed. Using a 3D image input device like the ZCam a set of classifiers implemented as support vector machines (SVM) and trained with the sequential minimal optimization (SMO) algorithm is proposed as a solution for the triple problem. All three classifiers were tested with an independent testing set and proved to have a very good performance. Furthermore, the same feature set was used with different classification algorithms and compared with the original SVM-SMO classifier. Consistently, all classifiers performed well but the SVM-SMO has always been among the best. Additionally, considering that the key for performance on SVM algorithms is the kernel with which they are implemented, several kernels where tried and compared. Although most of the time the performance of the more complex kernels outperformed the original one the processing time was much bigger. Finally, an application was developed using the previously introduced classifiers to work as an input device in the Sparsh-UI multi-touch framework. This applications has the double benefit that allows applications that required a multi-touch hardware to work with a simpler hardware and that integrates touch and computer vision technologies opening the door to more integrated solutions in the future.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
I particularly enjoyed HCI 575X and CS 572, CS 573

HCI issues that interest me today:
Design of UI that would maximize affordance and minimize learning curves.
Extend common interactions to some other more natural like gestures.

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MS Dissertation title:
Interactive Kiosk Demonstrating ISU’s Commitment to Green

MS Advisor(s):
Anthony Townsend and Stephen Gilbert

Area of MS research:
Many larger organizations, corporations, and government institutions like Iowa State University are trying to find new ways to demonstrate their commitment to ‘going green’. They are taking drastic steps to cut energy use and use new green technologies and they want their employees, customers, and the general public to be aware of their efforts. The goal of this project was to develop an informational kiosk which will visually demonstrate the progress being made by Iowa State University to go 'green' and become more energy efficient. The kiosk will provide users with historical and live energy statistics and engage users in learning opportunities to promote the university’s green initiatives while building goodwill for the organization.

What am I doing now?
For Kung Pow Studios I own and operate a media/design studio.
For Iowa State University I am the senior webmaster and manage all of the web-based initiatives.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
MIS 655 since that was what started it all.
HCI 575 because it pushed me further than I thought I could go.
HCI 572x because it allowed me to have a lot of fun.

Favorite graduate school memory:
Having to develop video games as part of my homework assignment.

HCI issues that interest me today:
The intersection of computers and art in emerging technologies.

A website I recommend:
Google

Why?
it helps you find whatever you are looking for.

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PhD Dissertation title:
Virtual reality based multi-modal teleoperation using mixed autonomy

PhD Advisor(s):
Jim Oliver

Area of PhD research:
A virtual reality based solution for controlling/teleoperating remote ground vehicle in partially known environments by balancing autonomy between human and vehicle

What am I doing now?
Working on developing GUI for Garmin Avionics products

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
Statistical methods for research and Computer graphics and geometric modeling

HCI issues that interest me today:
VR and touch screen interfaces

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MS Dissertation title:
Real0time scenegraph creation and manipulation in an immersive environment using an iPhone

Area of MS research:
Currently, most 3D scene creation is done on a desktop computer with a 2D interface, then the scene is imported into a VR environment. This is a slow and time consuming process. Why not create 3D scenes in a VR environment, where it will actually be used? Additionally, how can we use an iPhone to control this system?

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
Several of my software/graphics oriented classes were some of the most useful to me. In particular, the OpenGL class and Chiu-Shui Chan’s 3ds Max classes stand out. Although not related to my research as much, I did enjoy Alex’s computational perception class too.

Favorite graduate school memory:
All the late nights working on some crazy app in C6.

HCI issues that interest me today:
The continued growth of mobile computing and the new ways people can take advantage of them in our daily lives.

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MS Dissertation title:
Improving Path Planning of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in an Immersive Environment using Meta-Paths and Terrain Information

MS Advisor(s):
Eliot Winer

Area of MS research:
My thesis expands previous work on path planning. It covers improvements to the cost function used in finding optimal paths. It also presents “meta-paths” and other tools for enhancing the operator’s ability to re-task a UAV according to mission objectives and personal preferences.

What am I doing now?
I will spend several months getting training and raising financial support before going to the Australian National University. There I will be a full-time missionary working with college students, exposing them to who Jesus is from the Bible and helping them know and walk with him if they would desire to do so.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
I think HCI 521 was very important in exposing me to many of the topics included in HCI and helping me understand why designing for the user is so important. MIS 655 was also important in exposing me to more of the ethical issues of the field and taking an in-depth look at why science is done the way it is.

Favorite graduate school memory:
One of my favorite memories was one night in the lab when I was able to see the Virtual Universe in the C6. Brandon and Christian were testing the app and let me drive for a little while.

HCI issues that interest me today:
There are two issues I find to be important. The first is the design of usable interfaces. Especially after 521, I see that there is still a great deal of work needed to make software more intuitive so it is easier to pick up quickly. Technology transfer is also important because I do not want to see all the work we do in a facility like VRAC just go to waste because there are no ways to get it to the public.

Why?
I like my iGoogle homepage quite a bit. I enjoy that I am able to customize it with exactly what I want. I am a particular fan of the weather and the Ansel Adams picture of the day. I also enjoy shutterfly.com for the wide range of things I can do with my pictures. I think it is well designed to allow users to do what they want efficiently and to create a good user experience.

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MS Dissertation title:
Applications of narrative to the engineering decision making process and the pedagogy of engineering design

MS Advisor(s):
Kenneth Mark Bryden

Area of MS research:
Narrative is defined as a basic form of human communication. It is through narrative that humans experience and comprehend life. Using narrative as a tool to improve communication and comprehension requires incorporating several components into a complete narrative structure. The components of a narrative consist of a story; that is, a sequence of events providing chronological order and context to a subject, and a method of discourse; that is, the means in which the story is told. Creating narrative allows for increased cognitive understanding of a subject because it is the way in which we as humans naturally communicate. This paper examines how narrative may be used in engineering decision making. Engineering is a field where data is often presented with little context. This data is difficult to understand at first glance and occasionally requires explanation from experts closest to the data set. Engineering courses are not much different in that students are often faced with computational problems that are taken out of context. Practice in solving problems is necessary; however, these problems are often out of context and use idealized situations, thus hindering students’ ability to transfer knowledge to new situations. Using narrative to place problems in a real world context allows the students to experience situations closer to real world working environments. Outside of the engineering classroom, engineers face large amounts of data generated from projects with large design teams. Arranging the data into a narrative by adding layers of context can aid in comprehension of project data and also help bridge communication gaps between multiple engineering disciplines. Engineering groups tend to do this today, and indeed many companies have formalized engineering processes that unknowingly create a narrative. Understanding the nature of narrative can improve these v processes. In addition, engineering software today is like a shattered mosaic of brilliant colors, and building software that brings these pieces of the mosaic into a coherent, integrated picture would significantly benefit the engineering decision making process.

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PhD Dissertation title:
Cognition and Technology: Effectiveness of intelligent tutoring systems for software training

PhD Advisor(s):
Anthony Townsend and Stephen Gilbert

Area of PhD research:
This study addresses the potential of using an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) to tutor on off-the-shelf (OTS) software. ITSs have been successfully used to tutor on a variety of learning domains, but there has been little research comparing ITS-based training on an OTS application with traditional software training approaches such as books or interactive software simulations. The work presented here includes procedures and results for Paint.NET training and evaluation using three methods: book-based, interactive simulation, and an ITS. It is reported that there were some associations between the training method and training experiences. Book-based training exhibited higher scores on both task performance and system usability perception, while better times were recorded for the simulation approach. Concept acquisition score was not found to significantly correlate with training method, however. Additionally, it was found that interactions between training mode and spatial ability or general self-efficacy (GSE) significantly affected system usability perception. It was also learned that within ITS high computer self-efficacy (CSE) learners outperformed these with low CSE on task performance measure. Similar findings were reported for simulation group where high-spatial learners recorded better training times than low-spatial learners. Overall, results indicated that four individual characteristics to succeed indicators explored in this study significantly correlated with total training time and system usability measures. It is concluded that if an ITS is to be a tutor on OTS application then further refinements are needed.

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MS Dissertation title:
The application of polynomial response surface and polynomial chaos expansion metamodels within an augmented reality conceptual design environment

MS Advisor(s):
Eliot Winer

Area of MS research:
The engineering design process consists of many stages. In the conceptual phase, potential designs are generated and evaluated without considering specifics. Winning concepts then advance to the detail design and high fidelity simulation stages. At this point in the process, very accurate representations are made for each design and are then subjected to rigorous analysis. With the advancement of computer technology, these last two phases have been very well served by the software community. Engineering software such as computeraided design (CAD), finite element analysis (FEA), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) have become an inseparable part of the design process for many engineered products and processes. Conceptual design tools, on the other hand, have not undergone this type of advancement, where much of the work is still done with little to no digital technology. Detail oriented tools require a significant amount of time and training to use effectively. This investment is considered worthwhile when high fidelity models are needed. However, conceptual design has no need for this level of detail. Instead, rapid concept generation and evaluation are the primary goals. Considering the lack of adequate tools to suit these needs, new software was created. This thesis discusses the development of that conceptual design application. Traditional design tools rely on a two dimensional mouse to perform three dimensional actions. While many designers have become familiar with this approach, it is not intuitive to an inexperienced user. In order to enhance the usability of the developed application, a new interaction method was applied. Augmented reality (AR) is a developing research area that combines virtual elements with the real world. This capability was used to ix create a three dimensional interface for the engineering design application. Using specially tracked interface objects, the user’s hands become the primary method of interaction. Within this AR environment, users are able perform many of the basic actions available within a CAD system such as object manipulation, editing, and assembly. The same design environment also provides real time assessment data. Calculations for center of gravity and wheel loading can be done with the click of a few buttons. Results are displayed to the user in the AR scene. In order to support the quantitative analysis tools necessary for conceptual design, additional research was done in the area of metamodeling. Metamodels are capable of providing approximations for more complex analyses. In the case of the wheel loading calculation, the approximation takes the place of a time consuming FEA simulation. Two different metamodeling techniques were studied in this thesis: polynomial response surface (PRS) and polynomial chaos expansion (PCE). While only the wheel loading case study was included in the developed application, an additional design problem was analyzed to assess the capabilities of both methods for conceptual design. In the second study, the maximum stresses and displacements within the support frame of a bucket truck were modeled. The source data for building the approximations was generated via an FEA simulation of digital mockups, since no legacy data was available. With this information, experimental models were constructed by varying several factors, including: the distribution of source and test data, the number of input trials, the inclusion of interaction effects, and the addition of third order terms. Comparisons were also drawn between the two metamodeling techniques.

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MS Dissertation title:
An interactive color pre-processing method to improve tumor segmentation in digital medical images

MS Advisor(s):
Eliot Winer

Area of MS research:
An audio platform game was created and evaluated in order to answer the question of whether or not an audio game could be designed that effectively conveys the spatial information necessary for persons with visual impairments to successfully navigate the game levels and respond to audio cues in time to avoid obstacles. The game used several types of audio cues (sounds and speech) to convey the spatial setup (map) of the game world. Most audio-only players seemed to be able to create a workable mental map from the game’s sound cues alone, pointing to potential for the further development of similar audio games for persons with visual impairments. The research also investigated the navigational strategies used by persons with visual impairments and the accuracy of the participants’ mental maps as a consequence of their navigational strategy. A comparisons of the maps created by visually impaired participants with those created by sighted participants playing the game with and without graphics, showed no statistically significant difference in map accuracy between groups. However, there was a marked difference between the number of “invented” objects when we compared this value between the sighted audio-only group and the other groups, which could serve as an area for future research.

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MS Dissertation title:
Metamodeling for the quantitative assessment of conceptual designs in an immersive virtual reality environment

MS Advisor(s):
Eliot Winer

Area of MS research:
In the last few decades the medical imaging field has grown considerably, and new techniques such as computerized axial tomography (CAT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are able to obtain medical images in noninvasive ways. These new technologies have opened the medical field, offering opportunities to improve patient diagnosis, education and training, treatment monitoring, and surgery planning. One of these opportunities is in the tumor segmentation field. Tumor segmentation is the process of virtually extracting the tumor from the healthy tissues of the body by computer algorithms. This is a complex process since tumors have different shapes, sizes, tissue densities, and locations. The algorithms that have been developed cannot take into account all these variations and higher accuracy is achieved with specialized methods that generally work with specific types of tissue data. In this thesis a color pre-processing method for segmentation is presented. Most tumor segmentation methods are based on grayscale values of the medical images. The method proposed in this thesis adds color information to the original values of the image. The user selects the region of interest (ROI), usually the tumor, from the grayscale medical image and from this initial selection, the image is mapped into a colored space. Tissue densities that are part of the tumor are assigned an RGB component and any tissues outside the tumor are set to black. The user can tweak the color ranges in real time to achieve better results, in cases where the tumor pixels are non-homogenous in terms of intensity. The user then places a seed in the center of the tumor and begins segmentation. A pixel in the image is segmented as part of the tumor if it’s within an initial 10% threshold. This threshold is determined if the xi seed is within the average RGB values of the tumor, and within the search region. The search region is calculated by growing or shrinking the previous region using the information or previous segmented regions of the set of slices. The method automatically segments all the slices on the set from the inputs of the first slice. All through the segmentation process the user can tweak different parameters and visualize the segmentation results in real time. The method was run on ten test cases several runs were performed for each test cases. 10 out of the 20 test runs gave false positives of 25% or less, and 10 out of the 20 test runs gave false negatives of 25% or less. Using only grayscale thresholding methods the results for the same test cases show a false positive of up to 52% on the easy cases and up to 284% on the difficult cases, and false negatives of up to 14% on the easy cases and up to 99% on the difficult cases. While the results of the grayscale and color pre-processing methods on easy cases were similar, the results of color pre-processing were much better on difficult cases, thus supporting the claim that adding color to medical images for segmentation can significantly improve accuracy of tumor segmentation.

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PhD Dissertation title:
Relationships between user performance and spatial ability in using map-based software on pen-based devices

PhD Advisor(s):
Sarah Nusser and Leslie Miller

Area of PhD research:
This thesis explored the association between individual differences and software user performance. The primary goal was to investigate the relationship between spatial ability and user performance in the context of map software. Two studies were conducted to investigate this goal. There were two hypotheses that applied to both user studies. First, we expected that performance measures such as time to complete a task or accuracy would be positively correlated with spatial ability, as measured by scores on cognitive assessments for sub-factors of spatial ability. Second, we hypothesized that differences between subjects with low spatial ability and subjects with high spatial ability would be more pronounced with complex tasks and interfaces, such as a map interface or a task to compare ground settings with a map, relative to simpler tasks, such as finding a button that matched a target color or using map software with guidance on how to use the software to execute the task protocol. Each user study also incorporated additional questions unique to the study. Our first user study investigated how the relationship between spatial ability and performance might be affected by the relevance of the button label and alternative button layouts. This research indicated that good button labeling helps to mitigate performance differences among subjects with varying spatial ability. Additionally, we found support that performance differences related to spatial ability were most apparent in complex conditions. The second study investigated whether the association between spatial ability and user performance was affected by offering guidance on performing a task and whether orientation and visualization were dissociable factors for a task involving ground to map comparisons. While there were no benefits found from the guidance, visualization and orientation skills were found to be dissociable from one another for accuracy and tool use. Findings from both studies underscore the importance of interface design in potentially reducing costs and burden for users of map-based software in a small screen computing environment.

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PhD Dissertation title:
Ethnic-identity intensity as a moderator of the Technology Acceptance Model and its antecedents

PhD Advisor(s):
Anthony Townsend

Area of PhD research:
The goal of this dissertation is oriented to study the motivation of minorities to adopt and learn new, innovative technologies. The primary research question: is there some reason the African-American experience is driving certain sub-groups of the population to the wrong side of the digital divide? To examine this, I introduce ethnic identity as a moderating variable to a leftward extended technology acceptance model (TAM). Additionally, both components of the classic TAM (ease of use and usefulness) are divided into two antecedents: 1) ease of use- a) trait efficacy and b) state efficacy and 2) usefulness (completely replaced by) - a) symbolic utility and b) functional utility. State efficacy has a significant relationship to both ease of use as well as intent to use. Functional utility has a significant relationship to intent to use. Ethnic-Identity and its intensity does have a moderating effect to a more parsimonious model (were significant paths are compared for invariance.

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MS Dissertation title:
Design patterns in level design: common practices in simulated environment construction

MS Advisor(s):
Steven Herrnstadt

Area of MS research:
The creation of video game levels is an inexact and often intuitive process. Currently, much of level design focuses on the “how” as opposed to the “why.” That is to say, level designers know how to build a level, but do not know why they built it the way they did. Before more immersive player experiences can occur, an understanding of what levels are, what common functionality exists between them, and a means of consistently reproducing player behaviors is necessary. The author advances the premise that by examining the use of design patterns in architecture, computer science, and interaction design, a foundation can be created to better characterize commonly occurring problems and solutions within level design. When multiple patterns are applied, the group becomes a language. This language can then be used as a means for creating novel levels as well as a lexicon for analyzing existing games.

What am I doing now?
Program and develop video games.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
ME 557, Arch 534, ArtIS 509, ArtGR 672

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PhD Dissertation title:
Situating digital tools through ubiquitous virtuality: Confluences of art, architecture, and activity in HCI

PhD Advisor(s):
Mikesch Muecke and Jamie Horwitz

Area of PhD research:
Over the last twenty years computer engineers introduced concepts such as "ubiquitous computing", "embodied virtualization" (Weiser, 1991), "embodied interaction" (Harrison and Dourish 1996), "tangible bits" (Ishii and Ulmer, 1997), and "seamful interweaving" (Chalmers and Galani, 2004) in an attempt to describe and explain the increased embedding of computer technology into designed objects and environments, and to emphasize the crucial agency of the human mind and body in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Since the mid-1990s the apparent 'dissolving' of computers and sensors into ordinary and extraordinary environments is the focus of research and concern across the humanities, social sciences, and engineering as scholars attempt to understand how HCI influences the psychological, social, economic, aesthetic and ethical context in which we live (Castells, 1996, 1997, 1998; Smith, 2000; Hallnäs and Redström, 2002; Cuff, 2003; Bohn et al., 2004; McCullough, 2004; Hayles, 2005; Grudin, 2006). Examples of how this understanding is being pursued can be found in Hayles' argument that humans have evolved by using their cognitive powers to shape artifacts and technology, which, in turn, have been instrumental in shaping human cognition (Hayles, 1999). She calls this symbiotic relationship between humans and technology a "feedback loop"--new cognitive powers generate new technology, which in turn generate new cognitive resources then used to generate new technology. Coming from an art historical point of view, Summers argues that cognitive "notional operations" (i.e., referring to dimensional relations such as ratios, sizes, etc.) are a consequence of facture, i.e., of the actual making of artifacts. Bringing together insights drawn from working on the development of technology and looking at the social implications of such development, Brown and Duguid (1994) argue that besides the intended use that motivated the development of particular artifacts or of a particular technology, it is their "latent border resources"--resources that lay beyond their original intended uses--that support our shared use of them. Building on a cross-disciplinary discourse, I outline in this dissertation a conceptual outlook--which I call ubiquitous virtuality--to address the changing conditions of HCI in the context of 'smart' technology and pervasive computing. Addressing a condition in which 'smart' tools are interwoven in the material fabric and structure of everyday environments this dissertation explores how new individual and collective subjectivities are being built at the turn of this new millennium by putting together elements drawn from the history, theory and practices of art, architecture, and HCI. A number of archival and field researches situate these elements within the context of 'smart' technology. Activity Theory, an analytical framework that has been proposed to support the study of context in human-computer interaction, is used in an evaluation to help clarify how this cross-disciplinary discourse can be applied to HCI.

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PhD Dissertation title:
The acceptance of domestic technology: TAM as applied to a proposed classification scheme

PhD Advisor(s):
Anthony Townsend and Brian Mennecke

Area of PhD research:
TAM is a survey-based model of technology acceptance; I used this survey to gather data on undergraduate students’ acceptance of four technologies found in the home, each from a different quadrant of a classification scheme I proposed. I then analyzed this with respect to demographic and attitudinal data also gathered in the survey to determine the validity of my classification scheme, and the applicability of TAM to domestic technology.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
All of the core classes were essential, especially my research methods course; the best elective I took toward my dissertation was JLMC 576 because of the relevance of technology diffusion to technology acceptance.

Favorite graduate school memory:
What was your favorite Graduate School memory?
My second year in the program I discovered that the Society of Women Engineers conference was going to be quite close – in Kansas City – and would have an emerging technologies theme. I organized several women from the program and we had a great time there.

HCI issues that interest me today:
Technology acceptance is still my main area of interest, not only in how improved acceptance can improve organizations’ productivity but also how individuals in less fortunate circumstances can improve their lives by accepting the right technologies, and what their barriers are.

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MS Dissertation title:
BioN: a novel interface for biological network visualization

MS Advisor(s):
Julie Dickerson

Area of MS research:
Information Visualization impacts every day life. As life continues to become more technologically enhanced, increasing amounts of data are being collected, stored, and analyzed. Technology assists researchers and scientists not only to make new discoveries, but also to create new ways to explore the information they collect. This paper contains a small preview of the vast field of Information Visualization. From the various fields of visualization, visualization history, and current findings, we investigate the field’s impact. After studying the current technologies and tools for visualizing networks, we believe there is a more optimal solution than ones currently in use. We propose BioN, a new, novel touchbased interface for exploration and discovery of large, multivariate biological networks. The new program incorporates the ability to see the networked data in multi-windowed and multigraphed representation. This ability will allow users to exploit the inherent strengths in the different graphs formats.

What am I doing now?
Maintain, develop, create applications for weather for mobile devices

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
ArtGR 672 and Stat/Eng 332

HCI issues that interest me today:
Information visualization, cognitive abilities for visual detection of objects (visual memory)

A website I recommend:
infosthetics.com

Why?
great site for infor vis examples from all fields

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MS Dissertation title:
Design and evaluation of auditory spatial cues for decision making within a game environment for persons with visual impairments

MS Advisor(s):
Chris Harding

Area of MS research:
An audio platform game was created and evaluated in order to answer the question of whether or not an audio game could be designed that effectively conveys the spatial information necessary for persons with visual impairments to successfully navigate the game levels and respond to audio cues in time to avoid obstacles. The game used several types of audio cues (sounds and speech) to convey the spatial setup (map) of the game world. Most audio-only players seemed to be able to create a workable mental map from the game’s sound cues alone, pointing to potential for the further development of similar audio games for persons with visual impairments. The research also investigated the navigational strategies used by persons with visual impairments and the accuracy of the participants’ mental maps as a consequence of their navigational strategy. A comparisons of the maps created by visually impaired participants with those created by sighted participants playing the game with and without graphics, showed no statistically significant difference in map accuracy between groups. However, there was a marked difference between the number of “invented” objects when we compared this value between the sighted audio-only group and the other groups, which could serve as an area for future research.

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MS Dissertation title:
A concept virtual harp with physical string vibrations using augmented reality for therapy

MS Advisor(s):
Shana Smith

Area of MS research:
This thesis presents a multimodal three-dimensional harp for interactive musical experiences for use in therapy for individuals with disabilities. Realistic 3D visual and haptic feedback was provided through immersion in a portable augmented reality-based system composed of a video see-through head mounted display (HMD) and a Sensable Phantom Omni haptic device. Users play the virtual harp by using the Phantom Omni haptic device to pluck or strum the strings of the harp. Users can also freely move the harp in the augmented reality environment to provide a more realistic experience, similar to that of playing a traditional musical instrument. The system will be used to provide interactive musical experiences and to develop motor skills among individuals with disabilities through music therapy. A virtual therapist feature was developed which can be used by a therapist without musical knowledge to observe a user during therapy exercises or by a user to engage in self-motivated therapy exercises outside the therapy room. With the virtual therapy feature, users can follow a simple pre-determined sequence of notes using color-coded strings.

What am I doing now?
Train and assist individuals with work skills and skills for daily living

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
All the courses were invaluable to my success; HCI 521 helped me learn about HCI, how to write a literature review, and the journal submission process. The courses I took with programming different programs helped me gain and develop skills in C++ programming. HCI 655 let me think about science in a different way and how society has formed it. The HCI courses used teamwork for some assignments and projects, which allowed me to see what other HCI students interest were and gain friends.

Favorite graduate school memory:
Presenting my demo at the three day long 2007 Emerging Technology Conference and the HCI student game nights.

HCI issues that interest me today:
The use of technology among users with disabilities

A website I recommend:
http://www.albany.edu/~co283832/isp301/osborne.html

Why?
Human Computer Interaction and the Disabled - This site introduces readers to human computer interaction from the disabled and provides references to learn more about this issue.

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PhD Dissertation title:
A Framework for Tumor Segmentation and Interactive Immersive Visualization of Medical Image Data for Surgical Planning

PhD Advisor(s):
Eliot Winer

Area of PhD research:
Medical imaging technology has changed the way doctors and surgeons diagnose and operate in the last 100 years. Since the discovery of the X-ray, doctors and surgeonshave successfully utilized the ability to “see” inside a patient to further improve patient care. The advancement of computed tomography and magnetic resonance technology with faster and higher resolution scans has improved the analysis and visualization of patient data. As technology continues to accommodate the need for higher quality medical imaging, there is a continuing need for additional research in efficient ways of extracting crucial information from these vast amounts of data. This dissertation presents the framework for analyzing and visualizing digital medical images. Two new segmentation methods have been developed: a probability based segmentation algorithm, and a segmentation algorithm that uses a fuzzy rule based system to generate “similarity” values for segmentation. A visualization software application has also been developed to effectively view and manipulate digital medical images on a desktop computer as well as in an immersive environment. For the probabilistic segmentation algorithm, image data are first enhanced by manually setting the appropriate window center and width, and if needed a sharpening or noise removal filter is applied. To initialize the segmentation process, a user places a seed point within the object of interest and defines a search region for segmentation. Based on the pixels’ spatial and intensity properties, a probabilistic selection criterion is used to extract pixels with a high probability of belonging to the object. To facilitate the segmentation of multiple slices, an automatic seed selection algorithm was developed to keep the seeds in the object as its shape and/or location changes between consecutive slices. The second segmentation method, a new segmentation method using a fuzzy rule based system to segment tumors in a three-dimensional CT data was also developed. To initialize the segmentation process, the user selects a region of interest (ROI) within the tumor in the first image of the CT study set. Using the ROI’s spatial and intensity properties, fuzzy inputs are generated for use in the fuzzy rules inference system. Using a set of predefined fuzzy rules, the system generates a defuzzified output for every pixel in terms of similarity to the object. Pixels with the highest similarity values are selected as tumor. This process is automatically repeated for every subsequent slice in the CT set without further user input, as the segmented region from the previous slice is used as the ROI for the current slice. This creates a propagation of information from the previous slices, used to segment the current slice. The membership functions used during the fuzzification and defuzzification processes are adaptive to the changes in the size and pixel intensities of the current ROI. The proposed method is highly customizable to suit different needs of a user, requiring information from only a single two-dimensional image. Segmentation results from both algorithms showed success in segmenting the tumor from seven of the ten CT datasets with less than 10% false positive errors and five test cases with less than 10% false negative errors. The consistency of the segmentation results statistics also showed a high repeatability factor, with low values of inter- and intra-user variability for both methods.

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PhD Dissertation title:
Improving solution characteristics of particle swarm optimization through the use of digital pheromones, parallelization, and graphical processing units (GPUs)

PhD Advisor(s):
Eliot Winer

Area of PhD research:
Optimization has its foundations dating back to the days of Newton, Lagrange, Cauchy, and Leibnitz when differential calculus methods were developed to minimize and maximize analytical functions. Substantial progress in optimization became more prominent in the mid to late twentieth century when digital computers showed promise in offloading analytical problem solving into numerical methods through computer code for faster evaluations of designs. Deterministic optimization methods such as steepest descent, conjugate gradient and Newton’s methods are known for their robustness in iteratively reducing the objective function value for minimization problems. However, they are primarily suitable for solving single objective function problems that are unimodal and continuous. With increased sophistication in engineering problems, multimodal and multi-objective problems have become more prevalent drastically reducing the effectiveness of deterministic methods. This led to the development of heuristic methods, particularly evolutionary methods such as Genetic Algorithms, Ant Colony Optimization, and Particle Swarm Optimization. These methods have multiple design points exploring the design space over iterations as opposed to a single design point as in the case of deterministic methods. Evolutionary methods come with the capability to solve multimodal discontinuous design spaces with increased reliability and efficiency, but at considerable computational expense.

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MS Dissertation title:
Computer aided process planning for rapid prototyping using a genetic algorithm

MS Advisor(s):
Eliot Winer and Matt Frank

Area of MS research:
An automated rapid prototyping process that uses a CNC milling machine was under development. The process creates a metal part out of a cylindrical piece of stock material, machining away the unnecessary material. My thesis develops a process plan that chooses an End Mill size, and machining orientation. It uses a genetic algorithm to calculate the best set of variables to machine the part in the shortest amount of time.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
Computational Perception was very valuable. It gave me a unique perspective on the future of some of the technologies I’ve worked with. But the other two classes will need to be used if I am to find success with any of the technical projects I take on.

Favorite graduate school memory:
Finally getting my application to work well after many late nights of hard work.

HCI issues that interest me today:
I’m very interested in virtual design and prototyping. I also would like to see the use of Haptics in free-form product design.

A website I recommend:
Wikipedia.

Why?
As much bad press as it gets, if there is something you don’t know about, you can always get started finding keywords, or external links that helps you get over that initial research block.

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What am I doing now?
My team and I manage the static content, design, and UX for Wellmark’s Web properties. We consult with internal clients regarding business objectives and content needs, we interface with users to conduct UX testing, and we consult with IT on UX issues for our Web-delivered applications.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
All of them were beneficial in some way.

Psych 521x (Cognitive Psychology of HCI) provided a solid background in the neuroscience and research of HCI. I still quote studies – like

MIS437x (Project Management) was an excellent survey in project management and in using Microsoft Project. I was fortunate to be working on the planning for a large website redesign project at the time of this class; I was able to transfer learning from class to work in real time.

HCI 595x (Design of HCI) was a very immersive class. I’ve done Web design for nearly 15 years, but Professor Satterfield added an entirely new level of research and creativity to the process. In corporate environments, the design of webs is often established, so it was refreshing to approach a web / software design project from scratch.

MIS655 (Org & Social Implications of HCI) helped frame ethical discussions around computers, software, web, and access. I happened to be juror #3 in the class action lawsuit, “Comes vs. Microsoft, Case No. CL 82311” while I was taking this class. The course shed light on concepts like copyright, antitrust, and business ethics – the very topics that were debated in the courtroom every day.

Favorite graduate school memory:
Stepping outside of Howe Hall as the ISU Marching Band rehearsed.

HCI issues that interest me today:
Transactional user flows
Form development
Social media
- The effects and efficacy of “sound bite” communications
- Rise of narcissism and impact on social “discourse”

A website I recommend:
iGoogle

Why?

iGoogle – simplicity and personalization. I can do and find what I need to do quickly and easily – including putting gadgets on my homepage to do and find things even more quickly.

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What am I doing now?
Conduct user interface design development for new telecommunication, social networking, and messaging products.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
HCI 521 Cognitive Psychology of Human Computer Interaction as a supplement to my design education and experience and MIS 437x Project Management as a necessity for improving project planning and communication to avoid delays, wasted resources, and reduce projects missteps.

HCI issues that interest me today:
Social Networking aggregation, information consolidation, universal formatting, new data visualization techniques, and multi-modal interaction, and sensory perception augmentation (warnings and alerts).

A website I recommend:
www.urbanimpressionist.com
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/08/02/data-visualization-modern-approaches/

Why?
www.urbanimpressionist.com (my other site which I incorporate with more modern technology than my portfolio site).
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/08/02/data-visualization-modern-approaches/ a great overview of Data Visualization techniques and technologies

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MS Dissertation title:
AI Loom: a generic development framework for multi-agent systems ideally suited for virtual worlds

MS Advisor(s):
James Oliver

Area of MS research:
This thesis is on the exploration of using a distributed multiagent system as a framework to create a massively distributed virtual environment. He will be covering the creation of a software library for the creation of a generic multiagent system that he created called AI Loom and how the system has been used in multiple projects including his own research into it's applicability toward the creation of a metaverse.

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MS Dissertation title:
Effects of Field of View and Stereo Graphics on Memory in Immersive Command and Control

MS Advisor(s):
Derrick Parkhurst and Jim Oliver

Area of MS research:
100 subjects navigated inside a simulation that had five different levels of field of view (changed via number of walls used) and or stereo graphics. Recorded memory scores and used questionnaires to identify situation awareness, similuator sickness, presence and workload.

What am I doing now?
Human factors work on the display/ interface elements of a jet that is currently in development.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
The HCI seminar helped me stay on top of current technologies and issues.

Favorite graduate school memory:
It was a lot of fun to demo things for politicians and the public

HCI issues that interest me today:
Multitouch and pervasive technology.

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MS Dissertation title:
Real-time water simulation and rendering using features of the latest OpenGL-capable graphics

MS Advisor(s):
Eliot Winer

Area of MS research:
This thesis discusses methods of easily rendering and simulating water, as well as simulating its effect on, and the effects on it from, physical objects

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PhD Dissertation title:
Methods for Augmented Reality E-commerce

PhD Advisor(s):
Shana Smith

Area of PhD research:
A new type of e-commerce system and related techniques are presented in this dissertation that customers of this type of e-commerce could visually bring product into their physical environment for interaction. The development and user study of this e-commerce system are provided. A new modeling method, which recovers 3D model directly from 2D photos without knowing camera information, is also presented to reduce the modeling cost of this new type of e-commerce. Also an immersive AR environment with GPU based occlusion is also presented to improve the rendering and usability of AR applications. Experiment results and data show the validity of these new technologies.

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MS Dissertation title:
Development of an immersive game-based virtual reality training program to teach fire safety skills to children

MS Advisor(s):
Shana Smith

Area of MS research:
Injuries from residential fires are often overlooked as a dangerous safety concern for children. While lectures and classroom learning techniques can be effective in mitigating this risk, studies have shown that kids retain information better if they are allowed to practice escape techniques. Virtual Reality (VR) has been used both to simulate situations that are too dangerous to practice in real life and as a tool to help children learn. This thesis presents the two stage development of the Fire Safety Project, a game-based VR training environment to increase children’s understanding of fire safety. In the first iteration students help firefighters to identify home fire hazards and then practice escaping from a simulated fire in a virtual environment. Surveys administered show that participants felt that they had learned something during training. Many young participants also wanted to have active control over the virtual environment. In response, the second iteration is more game-based and allows children to explore the environment independently and “zap” fire hazards with the help of a tracked 6DOF wand. A user study was carried out and results indicate that students enjoyed the program; however there were no concrete learning gains from the use of the VR simulation.

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MS Dissertation title:
Medium of gameplay

MS Advisor(s):
Steven Herrnstadt

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MS Dissertation title:
Developing virtual watersheds for evaluating the dynamics of land use change

MS Advisor(s):
Udoyara Tim

Area of MS research:
My research was focused on developing an improved interface in the field of environmental sciences, with the combination of computing, information, and communication technologies to significantly enhance the characterization of hydrological phenomena at various spatial and temporal scales. A user interface was developed in this study using speech recognition and Virtual Reality technologies that helped in improving resource management and decision-making related to land use management.

What am I doing now?
Designing, developing and maintaining GIS-based desktop and/or web applications for civil and environmental engineering project applications in the areas of asset management, condition assessment and water resources planning.
Programming and database management in VB.NET and SQLServer.
Water Distribution Modeling, Water CAD, Designing waste water treatment plant.

Favorite graduate school memory:
There are lots of memories which are my favorite one but my most favorite one was when I saw it snowing for first time as back home in my country it gets cold but it never use to snow at the place where I lived.

HCI issues that interest me today:
Recent ongoing research.

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PhD Dissertation title:
The effect of leads on cognitive load and learning in a conceptually rich hypertext environment

PhD Advisor(s):
Ann Thompson and Dale Niederhauser

Area of PhD research:
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of leads (link comments) on cognitive load and learning in a conceptually rich hypertext environment. Assessment of the effect of leads was approached through measurement of cognitive load and learning performance. Subjective and objective methods, including self-reported mental effort, reading time, and electroencephalogram, were employed to measure cognitive load. Subjects’ learning performance was assessed using measures of recall, conceptual, and structural knowledge. Results suggest that leads are a potentially useful tool for supporting learning and reducing ineffective cognitive load associated with split attention. Leads may help educators circumvent working memory limitations, and better align presentation of information in hypertext with human cognitive architecture, which will ultimately enhance learning from hypertext-based instructional materials.

What am I doing now?
• Conduct and publish original research in the fields of educational technology, human-computer interaction, cognitive psychology, and instructional design; present results at national and international meetings.
• Design and teach courses in educational technology and human-computer interaction.
• Secure internal and external funding for the educational technology research team.
• Recruit graduate students; supervise graduate student education and research activities.
• Contribute to the development of the program’s website, learning objects repository, and online courses for Stillwater and Tulsa campuses.
• Serve on departmental, college, and university committees.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
Psych 521 The Cognitive Psychology of HCI
MIS 655 Organizational and Social Implications of Human Computer Interaction
IE 574 Interaction Techniques for Emerging Technologies

Favorite graduate school memory:
I always enjoyed the Iowa State VEISHEA celebration in the spring.

HCI issues that interest me today:
Web usability and its effect on cognition and learning
Cognitive load and cognitive flexibility in hypertext-assisted learning
Psychophysiological assessment of user’s cognitive processing during human computer interaction
Cognitive modeling and adaptive interfaces
Expertise development via Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games

A website I recommend:
Google Tech Talks:
http://research.google.com/video.html

Why?
Excellent compilation of videos of various visionaries and inventors sharing their ideas on current HCI issues.

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MS Dissertation title:
Painter Training in Virtual Reality: Conceptualization, Design, and Implementation

MS Advisor(s):
Dirk Reiners

Area of MS research:
Designed and built a VR simulation to support industrial spray painter training

What am I doing now?
Web page design, research, usability, and development for a well-established web startup

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
All were good, but the freedom to explore topics beyond the classroom – without being 'fenced into' specific class topics – was most valuable of all

Favorite graduate school memory:
The VRAC potluck lunches

HCI issues that interest me today:
Usability, interaction design, user experience

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MS Dissertation title:
The Paleontological Stratigraphic Interval Construction and Analysis Tool (PSICAT).

MS Advisor(s):
Cinzia Cervato

Area of MS research:
My thesis describes the design, development, and testing of the Paleontological Stratigraphic Interval Construction and Analysis Tool (PSICAT), an interactive, cross-platform environment for creating, viewing, and editing core description diagrams.

What am I doing now?
I work as the primary IT person for ANDRILL, the Antarctic geological drilling program. My job requires me to do basically anything computer-related, but the majority of my time is spent managing the data collected during our drilling expeditions; developing software for capturing, analyzing, and visualizing the expedition data; and managing ANDRILL's web presence.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
I found Stat 332X invaluable to my success. It made me think critically about visualizing information and data, which has been useful to a lot of the work I've been doing. I also found IE 574 to be a great introduction to HCI concepts.

HCI issues that interest me today:
I'm mainly interested in new and innovative ways of capturing and visualizing data.

A website I recommend:
There isn't a single website I recommend. Instead, invest in a good RSS reader (either a traditional application or a webapp like Google Reader) and start collecting RSS feeds. This will allow you to sift through a lot more information quickly. Some of my favorite RSS feeds include Coding Horror, InfoQ, specific technology feeds (like Planet Java, Planet Eclipse, Planet RDF, About Groovy, Scala Blog), and Digg.

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PhD Dissertation title:
Combining physical constraints with geometric constraint-based modeling forvirtual assembly

PhD Advisor(s):
Judy Vance

Area of PhD research:
The research presented in this dissertation aims to create a virtual assembly environment capable of simulating the constant and subtle interactions (hand-part, part-part) that occur during manual assembly, and providing appropriate feedback to the user in real-time. A virtual assembly system called SHARP "System for Haptic Assembly and Realistic Prototyping" is created, which utilizes simulated physical constraints for part placement during assembly. The first approach taken in this research attempt utilized Voxmap Point Shell (VPS) software for implementing collision detection and physics-based modeling in SHARP. A volumetric approach, where complex CAD models were represented by numerous small cubic-voxel elements was used to obtain fast physics update rates (500-1000 Hz). A novel dual-handed haptic interface was developed and integrated into the system allowing the user to simultaneously manipulate parts with both hands. However, coarse model approximations used for collision detection and physics-based modeling only allowed assembly when minimum clearance was limited to ~8-10%. To provide a solution to the low clearance assembly problem, the second effort focused on importing accurate parametric CAD data (B-Rep) models into SHARP. These accurate B-Rep representations are used for collision detection as well as for simulating physical contacts more accurately. A new hybrid approach is presented, which combines the simulated physical constraints with geometric constraints which can be defined at runtime. Different case studies are used to identify the suitable combination of methods (collision detection, physical constraints, geometric constraints) capable of best simulating intricate interactions and environment behavior during manual assembly. An innovative automatic constraint recognition algorithm is created and integrated into SHARP. The feature-based approach utilized for the algorithm design, facilitates faster identification of potential geometric constraints that need to be defined. This approach results in optimized system performance while providing a more natural user experience for assembly.

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MS Dissertation title:
Design and evaluation of a perceptually adaptive rendering system for immersive virtual reality environments

MS Advisor(s):
Derrick Parkhurst

Area of MS research:
Changing the level of presented detail in complex 3D environments only in areas that are not visible to the user allows the application to run faster and be more interactive without reducing task performance.

What am I doing now?
I’m pursuing a degree in Human Centered Computing. I’m currently thinking of specializing in learning sciences and technology. I am the project leader for research which involves teaching middle students about physics and scientific reasoning through hovercraft construction and simulation. I lead 5 M.S. students in the software development and run sessions with middle school students. I will soon start on a project to help parents of Deaf children learn sign language on their mobile phones.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
The weekly readings I did for HCI 521 Cognitive Psychology of HCI class were really helpful when it came time to write the lit review section of my thesis. My project involving creating an ASL-to-speech and speech-to-ASL avatar in Alex’s Computational Perception class helped me get into Georgia Tech’s program. I will also be using many of my HCI classes to fulfill my minor for my degree here.

Favorite graduate school memory:
It’s hard to pick just one memory from ISU. The three-day Emerging Technologies Conference was definitely memorable. There were so many amazing speakers and I was able to eat dinner with Don Norman. It was also fun running usability relays and showing people the new C6. I also loved running the REU during the summer of 2006 and seeing the amazing things people could program after only 4 days of learning C++.

HCI issues that interest me today:
I’m interested in investigating how to design technology to aid in informal learning situations. I’m also interested in designing interfaces for children. Another issue that interests me is enabling communication between deaf and hearing people.

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MS Dissertation title:
The development of a virtual reality based CAD system for design review

MS Advisor(s):
James Oliver

Area of MS research:
Virtual reality is currently utilized to view and evaluate product designs but is not used to alter designs. The design is typically completed on desktop workstations with CAD software and then evaluated within a virtual environment. Integrating VR and CAD could potentially improve designs by allowing several engineers and managers to critique and modify designs together, enabling concurrent engineering. This thesis discusses the development of a virtual reality based CAD system for altering designs during a design review. A list of criteria was first created to assess the system’s effectiveness in a design review which formed the basis for the development. The system integrates Pro/Engineer using the J-Link interface and VR Juggler. A wireless networked tablet PC along with a wand and tracker were chosen to operate the system. The developed system proved to meet the majority of the criteria and shows potential to meet all of the criteria.

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PhD Dissertation title:
Synesthetic music experience communicator

PhD Advisor(s):
James Oliver

Area of PhD research:
The Synesthetic Music Experience Communicator combines research in the areas of human computer interaction, music technology, and human perception to illustrate the experience of synesthesian mental imagery in response to musical sounds. Synesthesian musicians have reported positive benefits from their augmented awareness of sound in the areas of pitch identification, memorization, composition, and improvisation. This dissertation attempts to communicate both the experience and performance benefits associated with this cognitive phenomenon. Several virtual worlds have been developed to explore group education, rehearsal, and the artistic transformation of live performances into informative and entertaining visual presentations. Initial inspirations, background research, development stages, iterations, user evaluation, and future directions are discussed. Two virtual reality prototype systems are overviewed. The first demonstrates chromesthetic translations of real-time Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) events. The second demonstrates real-time transformations of multi-band Fast Fourier Transform processed audio into visual scenery. Observations and feedback about the initial prototype systems are summarized. Three systems are proposed which expand the initial prototypes and demonstrate concepts for computer augmented ensemble rehearsals. The Synesthetic Visualizer modules combine real-time audio and MIDI data to demonstrate synesthesia and photism-like imagery. The Computer Augmented Percussion Trainer and Small Ensemble Trainer are proposed to augment musical practices and rehearsals by providing real-time displays of ensemble members’ performances and displaying transformations between instrument fingerings. An introductory user study is conducted to determine which aspects of music are best communicated by the visual displays and to evaluate the potential benefits of this synesthetic approach. The user study asks participants to consider this research in relationship to existing music visualization and education methods. Exhibitions and publication efforts are reviewed. The user study, observations, and exhibitions serve to validate the core hypothesis of this research. The dissertation concludes by proposing an intelligent interactive s

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MS Dissertation title:
Low-cost eye-tracking for human computer interaction

MS Advisor(s):
Derrick Parkhurst

Area of MS research:
Knowing the user's point of gaze has long held the promise of being a useful methodology for human computer interaction. However, a number of barriers have stood in the way of the integration of eye tracking into everyday applications, including the intrusiveness, robustness, availability, and price of eye-tracking systems. The goal of this thesis is to lower these barriers so that eye tracking can be used to enhance current human computer interfaces. An eye-tracking system was developed. The system consists of an open-hardware design for a digital eye tracker that can be built from low-cost o-the-shelf components, and a set of open-source software tools for digital image capture, manipulation, and analysis in eye-tracking applications. Both infrared and visible spectrum eye-tracking algorithms were developed and used to calculate the user's point of gaze in two types of eye tracking systems, head-mounted and remote eye trackers. The accuracy of eye tracking was found to be approximately one degree of visual angle. It is expected that the availability of this system will facilitate the development of eyetracking applications and the eventual integration of eye tracking into the next generation of everyday human computer interfaces.

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MS Advisor(s):
Chad Harms

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MS Dissertation title:
An integrated task manager for virtual command and control

MS Advisor(s):
Adrian Sannier

Area of MS research:
The Task Manager is a desktop/tablet PC interface to the Battlespace research project that provides interactions and displays for supervisory control of unmanned aerial vehicles. Utilizing a north-up map display, the Task Manager provides a direct-manipulation interface to the units involved in an engagement. Used in two primary modes, the Task Manager can be used either in a planning/review mode that can be used to generate mission scenarios or a live-streaming mode that connects to a live Battlespace simulation via a network connection to edit and update path information on the fly. The goal of this research is to combine the precision of 2D mouse and pen-based interaction with the increased situational awareness provided by 3D battlefield visualizations like the Battlespace application. Combined use of these interfaces, either by a single operator or a small team of operators with task-specific roles, is proposed to produce a more favorable ratio of operators to units in field operations with superior decision-making capabilities due to the specific nature of the interfaces.

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MS Advisor(s):
Greg Luecke

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PhD Dissertation title:
Managing multiple unmanned aerial vehicles from a 3D virtual environment

PhD Advisor(s):
James Oliver and Adrian Sannier

Area of PhD research:
One hundred and three years ago the aviation age began with the Wright brothers in Kittyhawk, North Carolina. It is well known that manned aviation has made tremendous progress over the decades that followed. Less familiar are the deep history and roots of unmanned aviation, which is often thought of as a recent phenomenon. Initially, modern unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were instruments of war, and the challenge was to develop an unmanned system that could fly a preplanned route and return home. Once this level of autonomy was reached, it became clear that UAVs would have a considerable impact on future conflicts, but the possibilities extend beyond the practice of war and have potential to affect almost everyone’s lives. This potential, however, will not be met with current interface technologies, which require a team of operators to control one UAV. New technologies must be created to reverse this ratio. One operator must be able to control multiple UAVs. To accomplish this goal, the operator must be able to manage the UAVs’ flight paths and sensor feeds. The operator must also be able to maintain good situational awareness. This dissertation presents a 3D immersive ground control station capable of dynamic real-time path re-planning and in-context target confirmation as one possible solution to these challenges.

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MS Dissertation title:
Design and implementation of general purpose reinforcement learning agents

MS Advisor(s):
Adrian Sannier

Area of MS research:
Intelligent agents are becoming increasingly important in our society. We currently have house cleaning robots, computer-controlled opponents in video games, unmanned aerial combat vehicles, entertainment robots, and autonomous explorers in outer space. But there are many problems with the current generation of intelligent agents. Most of these problems stem from the fact that they are designed for very specific problems. Each intelligent agent has limited adaptability to new tasks; if conditions change slightly, the agent may quickly become confused. Additionally, a huge engineering effort is required to design an agent for each new task. Ideally, we would have a reusable general purpose agent design. Such a general purpose agent would be able to adapt to changing environments and would be easy to train to handle new tasks. To implement this agent design, we can use ideas from the field of reinforcement learning, an approach with strong mathematical foundations and intriguing biological implications. The available reinforcement learning algorithms are powerful because of their generality: agents simply receive a scalar reward value representing success or failure. Additionally, these algorithms can be combined with other powerful ideas (e.g. planning from a learned internal model). This thesis provides a step towards the goal of general purpose agents. It discusses a detailed agent design and provides a concrete software implementation of these ideas. It covers the components necessary for such a general purpose agent, starting with a minimal design and proceeding to develop a more powerful learning architecture. The final design uses temporal difference learning, radial basis functions, planning, uncertainty estimations, and curiosity. The main contributions of this thesis are: a novel combination of temporal difference learning with planning, uncertainty, and curiosity; a discussion of correlations between theoretical reinforcement learning and reward processing in biological brains; a practical Open Source implementation of general purpose reinforcement learning agents; and experimental results showing learning performance on several tasks, including two physical control problems.

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PhD Advisor(s):
Adrian Sannier and James Oliver

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PhD Dissertation title:
From gesture recognition to functional motion analysis: Quantitative techniques for the application and evaluation of human motion

PhD Advisor(s):
Judy Vance and Dean Adams

Area of PhD research:
The quantification and analysis of human motion is a central focus of many studies in biology, anthropology, biomechanics, human factors and ergonomics. These works are primarily concerned with describing the relationships between structure and function from a quantitative perspective. Recent work has seen the application of functional analysis techniques and their associated models to such diverse areas as surveillance, human computer interaction, and game development by researchers in the areas of computer graphics, robotics, computer vision, and machine learning The work in this dissertation is motivated by the study and quantification of gesture and human motion. This research explores the characteristics of gesture-based interactions, the development of a gesture recognition tool for virtual reality environments, the quantification and analysis of a sequence of postures as a complete motion, and the application of the motion analysis methods to a lifting and fatigue study. The result is a look at gesture and motion analysis from its role in interaction to its ability to quantify relationships between structure and function

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MS Dissertation title:
Interaction in an immersive virtual Beijing courtyard house

MS Advisor(s):
Chui Shui Chan

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MS Dissertation title:
Augmented Tangible Interface for Design Review

MS Advisor(s):
Carolina Cruz-Neira and Adrian Sannier

Area of MS research:
Traditional design review uses “old” 2D interfaces such as a mouse and a keyboard to manipulate 3D objects. These 2D to 3D limitation is not desirable, especially in a design review meeting. I proposed a set of 3D tangible interfaces using augmented reality to help with CAD design review.

What am I doing now?
I am a developer in the Fixed Income division, developing application for Interest Rate Product trading.

What HCI classes were invaluable to my success?
HCI 575X, Virtual Reality Class, Open GL Class

Favorite graduate school memory:
VRAC potluck, Late night coding, Fun Co-workers / Staffs. Great bosses, etc.

HCI issues that interest me today:
Currently I am interested in Finance, equities trading, so things related to that.

A website I recommend:
Finance.google.com

Why?
good HCI design for lots of information

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MS Dissertation title:
Human movement tracking using a wearable wireless sensor network

MS Advisor(s):
Carolina Cruz-Neira

Area of MS research:
Human movement tracking systems have been used in many fields, from medical rehabilitation to virtual reality user interfaces. Most movement tracking systems are expensive, difficult to implement, and lack flexibility. Furthermore, they tend to be cumbersome when wired, making them impractical for general purpose applications. Wireless sensor network technology has been developed and widely used in outdoor environmental monitoring applications, such as, in agriculture, sensor networks are used to provide early alerts for frost damage and help in precision harvesting to maximize crop quality. It has shown that wireless sensor network is effective, efficient, inexpensive, and easy to implement. This research proposes to utilize the advantages of wireless sensor networks in the field of human movement tracking. A wearable wireless sensor network is implemented according to the guidelines of wearable systems, and its performance is evaluated with respect to the number of sensors and the communications bandwidth. A test case application involving an interactive dance performance is discussed to validate the effectiveness of our wireless sensor network and how it integrates into a virtual reality application.

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MS Dissertation title:
Renaissance: a functional shading language

MS Advisor(s):
Dirk Reiners

Area of MS research:
Programmable graphics hardware is growing in capability and flexibility at a rapid pace. Existing languages for programming this hardware make it difficult at best to build collections of custom graphics algorithms that can be combined as needed. We present a pure functional shading language, Renaissance, that uses the concepts of computational frequency and frequency inference to naturally allow composition of shader concepts without generating redundant code. We also provide most of the benefits of metaprogramming languages without the restriction of requiring a full host environment.

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MS Advisor(s):
Adrian Sannier and Carolina Cruz-Neira

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MS Dissertation title:
Tangle: The creation of a trusted, task-based, distributed information system utilizing a peer-to-peer network

MS Advisor(s):
Adrian Sannier

Area of MS research:
Every day more and more people from all walks of life use computers to communicate. Using a wide variety of new tools, including email, instant messaging, online chat rooms, and blogs, people of all ages have adopted computers as a means to keep in touch. Typically, each of these communication forms requires its own application, regardless of whom information is being sent to. For example, an email client is needed send email to a friend, and a separate instant messaging client is needed to send instant messages to that same friend. Not only are different applications required to send information between the same two people, but the information is routed differently, using different network topologies and technologies, in order to complete what is essentially a simple form of communication between two people. Email and instant messaging are just two of the many examples of computer mediated communication. Everyday it seems, people find another way to use computers to share information with one another. Many other examples exist, such as sharing pictures between friends, sharing music, sharing knowledge —the list goes on and on. These communications typically occur within groups – friends and family, a project team, a group or division within an enterprise. The information exchanged within these groups does not respect application boundaries. For example, the people a person shares pictures with are also likely to receive email and instant messages from that person. This thesis discusses the design and creation of a comprehensive peer-to-peer communication system referred to as Tangle. The goal of Tangle is to provide a common framework and communication network to support communication in any form between a group of people, providing a common entry point for any type of communication between groups of trusted peers. With this underlying infrastructure created, Tangle provides a base set of functionality which the everyday computer user would find most useful. Tangle also defines a mechanism to create new forms of communication within a group, called a Tangle Extension. These extensions provide unlimited extensibility to the set of task oriented communications possible between groups of peers using Tangle.

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