Recent Projects

The following paragraphs outline my involvement with the Collaborative Multimedia Research Group (CMRG), describe some projects which I have been involved in and include links to the project home pages where applicable.

Summer 1995

I began my involvement with the CMRG during the summer of 1995. At this time, I was hired by Dr. Ron Baecker to work on several projects. The primary task of the summer was updating the Dynamic Graphics Project (DGP) Web pages, with particular attention on giving the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) program at the University of Toronto some additional exposure. This project was completed with the assistance of Mary Alton who was hired to do some of the graphics for the pages and to give me brief training in the use of Adobe Photoshop. The Web pages were reorganized to include easy access to information on the varying projects being completed both in Computer Graphics and HCI. In particular, the CMRG and SRG pages were created in order to relay information about the research projects and participants of each group. In addition, the site's many lists of participating faculty, students and employees were updated. As is the case with many Web sites, the DGP pages are continually in the process of being updated.

In addition to the Web page work, I participated in the Computer Literacy Project. My involvement with this project included researching and collecting articles to be included in the 1995 academic year's SCI199Y reading list. I also augmented some existing mini-applications using LCSI Microworlds Logo and created new ones. These applications are among the many used throughout the course's duration in order to better student's understanding of computer science concepts. Some of the applications, developed in collaboration with Isabel Jevans, Diba Bot, Eric Smith and Hugh Redelmeier, include: MiniTree which allows students to experiment with recursion by drawing trees, MiniBall which aids in explaining computer simulation, MiniCalc which provides students with a simple financial forecasting tool and MiniJustification which allows students to explore the concept of internal versus external representation of justification in word processing software.

Fall 1995

My participation with the CMRG in the fall of 1995 was limited since I had a full course load and many other responsibilities occupying my time. During this term I completed a project course, supervised by Dr. Baecker, which examined the feasibility of creating a virtual community based on the users of the HCI text Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: Toward the Year 2000. by Baecker, Grudin, Buxton, and Greenberg. This project, titled the BGBG Virtual Community Project, began with the study of communication mechanisms, both electronic and non-electronic, utilized by the HCI community. It was completed with a report which proposed building the BGBG virtual community by utilizing some of these mechanisms and outlined the amount of participation which would be required by its various members in order to make the community a success. It also explained the academic and financial benefits of such a community. The proposal met with approval and although it has yet to be implemented, it is likely that a subset of the community, as outlined in the proposal, will be implemented at the University of Toronto in the future.

Spring 1996

In the Spring of 1996 I began a research project in collaboration with Naomi Friedlander and Alexandra Mazalek which examined multimedia software packages. The purpose of the project was to provide the CMRG with a better understanding of existing multimedia authoring software. A list of the seventy-nine most relevant multimedia software packages was compiled. These products were divided into the following eight categories: Script Writing Software, Storyboard Design Software, Personal/Home graphics Software, Desktop Video Software, Presentation Graphics Software, Professional Multimedia Authoring Software, Multimedia Authoring Software with a Scripting Language and Multimedia Authoring Software without a Scripting Language. A subset of thirteen of the seventy-nine products underwent a more thorough evaluation based on the following criteria: Interface consistency and ease of Use, Existence and quality of multimedia components provided, Provision of multiple authoring views, Provision of multimedia resources, Support for different formats and some miscellaneous criteria such as level of technical background required, timing and transition control and overall ease of use. This project was recently completed and a comprehensive report outlining the research, product categorization process, software evaluation process and results, and the significance of these results has been compiled.

Summer 1996

On June the 18th, 1996 I convocated with an Honours B.Sc. in Computer Science from Victoria College. I am currently working on a part-time basis for the CMRG while I look for full-time employment. Once again I am updating the CMRG WWW pages to include new members and information on current research projects. In addition I am involved with the implementation of the University of Toronto's Knowledge Media Design Institutes' WWW site in a research and advisory role.

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