===== Academia =====
My primary academic research interests have been human-computer interface design, tools for authoring of generative interactive stories, interactive data visualization and management, plan-based interactive dramas, and real-time interaction with rendering algorithms. During my time as a PhD candidate at [[http://soe.ucsc.edu|UCSC]]'s [[https://games.soe.ucsc.edu/eis|Expressive Intelligence Studio]], my dissertation work explored the design and development of //intelligent and graphical interfaces// that allowed non-technical authors (writers and game designers) to create **compelling interactive stories** using relatively complex story generation algorithms. Because creating interactive and generative stories is akin to "programming" the structure of a narrative, which can be a daunting task for a writer, there has been and continues to be **much work** in making the process of creating these types of stories easier and more approachable for those without programming experience.
==== Disseration Projects ====
  * I worked on [[Academia:SCR|designing and developing AI-driven virtual avatars]] targeting the concept of //Supporting Character Realism//, in which virtual characters act and interact in a convincing, consistent, and human-like manner in order blend into the background activity of a virtual world. This work is inspired by hybrid controller scenarios where humans work with in tandem AI systems, trading off control of avatars interacting with human trainees in virtual environments.  

  * [[Academia:StoryCanvas]], a comic/storyboard-based interactive, generative story authoring interface based on the same underlying story model of [[Academia:Wide Ruled | Wide Ruled]]. This research focuses on developing and evaluating completely visual authoring techniques and smart interface features for the underlying plan-based story generator. It builds off of the lessons learned from [[Academia: Wide Ruled | Wide Ruled]], and sets the stage for a more complex story model in future work. As part of my work, I also explored the [[Academia:BeyondStoryCanvas|future of Story Canvas research]], with a collection of concepts, illustrations, and process descriptions that overview the potential evolution of this plan-driven story authoring architecture.

  * [[Academia:Wide Ruled]], an interactive story authoring and generation application based on the Universe story generation model. This project focuses on providing a simple and usable interface to the complex and powerful underlying generation model, that can be utilized by authors with little or no computer programming experience.

==== Additional Research Projects ====
  * [[Academia:TransientRendering|Transient Rendering]], a formal model of light transport, taking into account a non-infinite speed of light. In this work, my colleague [[http://adamsmith.as|Adam Smith]] and I introduce a physically-relevant generalization of the rendering equation and a method for approximating this equation, and define a summary measure of transient light patterns, which is used as a basis for a general sensor model.

  * [[Academia:Facemorph|Facial Type, Expression, and Viseme Generation]], a method of generating new and arbitrary face shapes from a sparse set of initial real-world data. This work focuses on attaching concrete, human-readable parameters to abstract geometric variation in face meshes.

  * [[Academia:ITS|Interactive Thin Shells]], an interface for the analysis of physically-based animations. This project, my Master's thesis at [[http://www.calpoly.edu|Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo]], focused developing a novel way of interacting with physically-based animation algorithms, that allows for free-form and real-time experimentation and modification of all relevant local and global simulation parameters.

  * [[Academia:Raytracer]], a project and resulting paper focusing on the design of a distributed raytracer that exhibits a fault-tolerant and dynamically-scalable three-tier architecture.