Project Title:Intelligent Natural Interaction Technology (INIT) Lab
Department: Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Anthony, lanthony@cise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): TBD based on project and availability
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, 2-3 students per semester
Prerequisites: Projects can be customized for background and interest of the student, pending lab needs at the time. Helpful skills (encouraged but not required) include: programming fundamentals, experimental design, data analysis, experience working with children, good people skills, attention to detail, organization, time management. High-achieving freshman encouraged to apply! Students considering graduate school strongly encouraged to apply!
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: 1st semester, none unless selected for University Scholars; after trial period, $15/hour up to 10 hours per week
Application Requirements: Resume, UF unofficial transcripts, faculty interview; email all application requirements to Lisa Anthony, lanthony@cise.ufl.edu, to request an interview
Application Deadline: applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but first come first served (recommend: Mar 15 or July 1 for Fall, Nov 15 for Spring, Mar 15 for Summer)
Website: http://init.cise.ufl.edu
Project Description: Our lab focuses on advanced interaction technologies such as touch, gesture, voice, and mixed reality, in the context of human-AI interaction, education, healthcare, and serious games. Many of our projects emphasize children and/or families as a unique user group. Our projects advance human-computer interaction (HCI) research questions of how users want to interact with these natural modalities, and computer science research questions of how to build recognition algorithms that can understand user input in these ambiguous modalities. Top priorities currently: (a) designing intelligent chatbots for mobile health monitoring apps; (b) designing digital AI assistants to help novice users complete more expert tasks; and (c) designing human-centered interactive machine learning interfaces.
Project Title: Modeling Dialogue for Supporting Learning
Department: Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Kristy Boyer, keboyer@ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): Mentor will be selected to best fit the undergraduate applicant.
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, 2 students per semester
Prerequisites: Projects can be customized according to background of student. Java I and Java II already completed is strongly preferred, and completion of Data Structures will open the most possibilities for a student in our lab. Nonetheless, high-achieving freshmen should not hesitate to apply.
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: $10 per hour. Hours per week flexible.
Application Requirements: Resume, UF unofficial transcripts, faculty interview; email resume, transcript, and cover letter to Timothy Brown, timothy.brown@ufl.edu
Application Deadline: We conduct interviews on a rolling basis. Interested applicants may apply anytime.
Website: https://www.cise.ufl.edu/research/learndialogue/
Project Description: Dialogue is one of the most effective ways for people to learn. We ask questions, give and receive advice, and clarify our understanding. Building computational models of dialogue for learning is a crucial step on the path toward effectively supporting all students through intelligent learning environments. This project focuses on understanding and modeling that dialogue.
Project Title #1: Remote Sensing of Coral Reefs
Department: Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Paul Gader, pgader@ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): Ron Fick, rfick@ufl.edu
Terms Available: Fall, Spring
Student Level: Junior, Senior, 1 student per semester
Prerequisites: C++ (preferred) or Java. Calculus III. Linear Algebra. Probability and Statistics
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: $10 per hour up to 10 hours a week
Application Requirements: UF unofficial transcripts, faculty interview; email one pdf file with all application requirements to Paul Gader, pgader@ufl.edu, to request an interview
Application Deadline: Aug. 15 for Fall, Nov. 1 for Spring
Website: cise.ufl.edu/~pgader
Project Description: Coral reefs are a beautiful and essential part of marine ecosystems. It is important to understand the health of the reefs at a global scale. Researchers are investigating airborne systems with imaging spectrometers that produce images with hundreds of spectral bands. The computational burden of extracting useful spectral information about reefs is enormous and the research focus is advanced machine learning and modeling algorithms for spectral analysis of coral reefs.
Project Title #2: Machine Learning for Forestry
Department: Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Paul Gader, pgader@ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): none
Terms Available: Fall, Spring
Student Level: Junior, Senior, 1 student per semester
Prerequisites: MATLAB, C++, Python, or Java. Calculus I. Linear Algebra. Probability and Statistics
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: $10 per hour up to 10 hours a week
Application Requirements: UF unofficial transcripts, faculty interview; email one pdf file with all application requirements to Paul Gader, pgader@ufl.edu, to request an interview
Application Deadline: Aug. 15 for Fall, Nov. 1 for Spring
Website: cise.ufl.edu/~pgader
Project Description: Analyzing the health of forests is important for ecological and agricultural purposes. Researchers are investigating the use of airborne systems equipped with imaging spectrometers that capture images with hundreds of spectral bands per pixel. The massive scale of these collections requires new computational algorithms. The focus of this research is on machine learning and modeling algorithms for estimating forest health.
Project Title: Development of Autonomous Mobile Agents (Robots)
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Ira Hill; ijh3@ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): N/A
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, 5-15 students a term
Prerequisites: A desire to learn and work with others
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none unless selected for University Scholars
Application Requirements: Faculty interview; visit Dr. Hill in NSC 224.
Application Deadline: None
Website: www.mil.ufl.edu
Project Description: MIL and CIMAR provide cross-disciplinary synergistic environment dedicated to the study and development of intelligent, autonomous robots. We conduct research in the theory and realization of autonomous mobile agents covering topics such as machine learning, real-time sensor integration (including computer vision, LADAR, sonar, radar, IMU, etc.), optimization, and control. Applications of MIL research (that have produced functioning robots) include autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), autonomous water surface vehicles (ASVs), autonomous land vehicles (ALVs), and autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs).
Project Title: Validating the use of wearable technology and machine learning for exposure assessment of workers to uneven surfaces
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, & Electrical and Computer Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Boyi Hu, boyihu@ise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): TBD based on project and availability
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Junior, Senior, 1-2 students per semester.
Prerequisites: Project details can be developed based on student’s interest and background. Students considering graduate school are especially courage to apply. Prerequisite skills include: 1) at least 1 year of programming experience (Matlab or Python preferred); 2) signal processing fundamentals; 3) machine learning fundamentals
Credit: 0-3credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: $12/hour up to 20 hours per week
Application Requirements: Resume, UF unofficial transcripts, statement of research interest, faculty interview, email one pdf file of requirements to Boyi Hu, boyihu@ise.ufl.edu to request an interview
Application Deadline: N/A
Website: N/A
Project Description: The two main goals of this pilot project proposal are to: 1) determine if workers’ gait behavior as measured by wearable sensors in real workplace differs significantly on different walking surfaces experienced by typical workers; and, 2) determine if artificial deep learning network algorithms can detect walking surface categories using signals from wearable sensors mounted on workers’ body during typical walking tasks.
Project Title: Collecting Eyetracking Data on Images and Videos
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Eakta Jain, ejain@cise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): n/a
Terms Available: Fall, Spring
Student Level: Junior, Senior; 2 students a term
Prerequisites: programming fundamentals
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none in the first semester unless selected for University Scholar; after that hourly stipend available based on performance and fit to specific project
Application Requirements: Resume, faculty interview, attend a group meeting; email faculty at ejain@cise.ufl.edu with pdf resume to schedule interview. Make time to attend group meeting.
Application Deadline: End of add/drop period in each term
Website: jainlab.cise.ufl.edu
Project Description: Eyes are the window to the soul. Eyetracking data is a powerful source of data to understand how humans perceive visual information. We design, code, and run experimental studies to collect and analyze eyetracking data. Interested students should have good time management and organization skills, and be able to code in MATLAB.
Project Title #2: Web Development and Server Management
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Eakta Jain, ejain@cise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): n/a
Terms Available: Fall, Spring
Student Level: Sophomore, Junior; 1 student a term
Prerequisites: HTML programming
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none in the first semester unless selected for University Scholar; hourly stipend available after that based on performance and fit to project
Application Requirements: Resume, faculty interview, attend a group meeting; email resume as pdf file to ejain@cise.ufl.edu, make time to attend group meeting
Application Deadline: End of add/drop period in each term
Website: jainlab.cise.ufl.edu
Project Description: I am looking for a web developer with an eye for detail and aesthetics to maintain databases and citizen science project pages on our web server (jainlab.cise.ufl.edu). Need to have good time management and organization skills and previous web development experience.
Project Title: Interacting with Virtual Humans to Improve Communication Skills
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Benjamin Lok, lok@ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): Jacob Stuart, jacobstuart@ufl.edu
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior; 2 students in fall/spring; 3 students in summer
Prerequisites: Data Structures, Programming
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none for starting students unless selected for University Scholars; funding opportunities for top performers
Application Requirements: online application, resume, letter(s) of recommendation, statement of research interest, faculty interview; email one pdf file with all application requirements to Benjamin Lok, lok@ufl.edu
Application Deadline: rolling deadline (you can apply at any time, however course credit is based on standard university enrollment deadlines)
Website: www.ufverg.com
Project Description: How can we improve how we train people to interact with other people? From training better health care, law enforcement, business, and education (amongst others) will require new simulations to practice and train on interpersonal skills. Thus we will innovate in the areas of virtual reality, human-computer interaction, natural language processing, and machine learning as to develop simulations to train people on more effectively interacting with other people. We will create interactive 3D virtual people that learners can type, talk, and/or gesture with to practice and receive feedback on high-stakes interpersonal scenarios such as a doctor talking to a patient or a team of medical staff in the operating room.
Project Title: Modeling Geometry in Virtual Reality
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Jorg Peters, jorg.peters@gmail.com
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): n/a
Terms Available: Fall, Summer
Student Level: Junior or Senior; 2 students a term
Prerequisites: Experience with modeling environments (unity or Blender, etc), some graphics programming experience, enthusiasm for VR, computer vision is a plus.
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: TBD
Application Requirements: UF unofficial transcripts, faculty interview, short explanation why you are interested and qualified; email all requirements to jorg.peters@gmail.com
Application Deadline: Rolling
Website: http://www.cise.ufl.edu/research/SurfLab/
Project Description: Move modeling tasks into a head-mounted display environment.
Project Title: Big Data technologies for Actigraphy Problems
Department: Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Sanjay Ranka, ranka@cise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): n/a
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Junior, Senior, 2 students per term
Prerequisites: Strong programming and algorithmic background
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none unless selected for University Scholars
Application Requirements: Resume, UF unofficial transcripts; email one pdf file of all documents to Sanjay Ranka, ranka@cise.ufl.edu
Application Deadline: March 1 for Summer and Fall terms; November 1 for Spring term
Website: http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~ranka
Project Description: Development of techniques for collecting, monitoring and modeling activity information of older adults and correlating them with their physical and mental health.
Project Title: Big Data and Machine Learning
Department: Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Sanjay Ranka, ranka@cise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): n/a
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Junior, Senior; 5 students per term
Prerequisites: Expertise in Data structures and Programming. Course in machine learning a plus. Example project: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1922782&HistoricalAwards=false
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none unless selected for University Scholars
Application Requirements: Resume, UF unofficial transcripts; email one pdf file of all documents to Sanjay Ranka, ranka@cise.ufl.edu
Application Deadline: Open
Website: http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~ranka
Project Description: Applying big-data and machine learning to applications in transportation, health care and smart cities.
Project Title: In House Open Source Molecular and Materials Modeling Software
Department: Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Meera Sitharam, sitharam@cise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): Rahul Prabhu, rprabhu@ufl.edu
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer; ideally for an entire year
Student Level: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, 1 student per semester; ideally stays at least a year
Prerequisites: Should be able to read and write C++, QT openGL/webGL (or substitute object oriented/graphics programming languages); quickly pick up software such as openVolumeMesh, and program in matlab, etc.
Stipend: $15/hr up to 10 hrs a week
Application Requirements: Basic online application, faculty interview; email one pdf file with qualifications to Rahul Prabhu, rprabhu@ufl.edu
Application Deadline: rolling deadline until hired.
Website: http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~sitharam/EASALvideo.mpg
Project Description: In house Open Source Molecular and Materials Modeling Software has been developed. New theoretical results and algorithms developed by the group have to be understood, implemented as software and incorporated into the suite. The backend is in C++, the GUI is QT and webGL, other libraries such as OpenMesh and OpenVolumeMesh are used, and programming and interfacing with matlab is frequent. Many year long projects are anticipated.
Project Title: Development of Autonomous Mobile Agents (Robots)
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Faculty Mentors: Eric Schwartz, ems@ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): N/A
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior; 15-50 students per term
Prerequisites: A desire to learn and work with others.
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN4912
Stipend: None unless selected for University Scholars or Emerging Scholars
Application Requirements: Faculty interview; send email to Dr. Schwartz at ems@ufl.edu to set up an appointment
Application Deadline: None
Website: www.mil.ufl.edu
Project Description: MIL provides a cross-disciplinary synergistic environment dedicated to the study and development of intelligent, autonomous robots. We conduct research in the theory and realization of autonomous mobile agents covering topics such as machine learning, real-time sensor integration (including computer vision, LADAR, sonar, radar, IMU, etc.), optimization, and control. Applications of MIL research (that have produced functioning robots) include autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), autonomous water surface vehicles (ASVs), autonomous land vehicles (ALVs), and autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs). MIL regularly competes in international robot competitions (and has previously earned five world championships).
Project Title: Geometry aware Machine Learning for Computer Vision and Medical Imaging
Department: Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Baba Vemuri, vemuri@cise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): NA
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Junior, Senior; variable number of students per semester
Prerequisites: Linear Algebra, Vector Calculus, Numerical Analysis, Probability and Statistics, Proficiency in Python/MATLAB/C++
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: None initially, will depend on performance and availability of funds; university scholars
Application Requirements: Resume, UF unofficial transcripts, Faculty interview; Email one pdf file with all application requirements to Baba Vemuri; vemuri@cise.ufl.edu
Application Deadline: N/A
Website: www.cise.ufl.edu/~vemuri
Project Description: We are interested in developing algorithms and code that takes advantage of the intrinsic geometry of the space in which the data reside. The data are quite often very high dimensional and exploiting the underlying geometry leads to better algorithms. The challenge however is in developing computationally efficient algorithms while respecting the geometry of the underlying space. Most often, this geometry is non-Euclidean. Examples are abundant, for instance, diffusion tensor (magnetic resonance) images, covariance matrix-valued features used for object tracking etc.
Project Title #1: Demo UI Development for Advanced QA over Knowledge Bases
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Daisy Zhe Wang, daisyw@cise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): Xiaofeng Zhou, xiaofengzhou@ufl.edu; Miguel Rodriguez, miguelrodriguez@ufl.edu
Terms Available: Fall
Student Level: Junior, Senior; 1-2 students a term
Prerequisites: Past experience with UI design and development; Data Structures, Programming
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none unless selected for University Scholars; after a trial period: $10 per hour up to 10 hours a week
Application Requirements: Resume, UF unofficial transcripts, good GPA; email one pdf file of requirements to Daisy Zhe Wang, daisyw@cise.ufl.edu
Application Deadline: Rolling deadline effective until September 2016
Website: http://dsr.cise.ufl.edu/projects/
Project Description: Knowledge bases are used to provide QA to intelligent systems. Research has been conducted on enhancing current capabilities of knowledge bases. This project is to develop the front end of demos of different QA scenarios over such advanced KBs.
Project Title #2: Data Science Application to Law, Ecology and Biomedical Domains
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Daisy Zhe Wang, daisyw@cise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): n/a
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Junior, Senior; 1-2 students a term
Prerequisites: Interest and prior knowledge in respective application domains: (1) Law (2) Ecology (3) Biomedical; data structure and programming; database and machine learning
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none unless selected for University Scholars; after a trial period: $10 per hour up to 10 hours a week
Application Requirements: Resume, UF unofficial transcripts, faculty interview, good GPA; email one pdf file of requirements to Daisy Zhe Wang, daisyw@cise.ufl.edu
Application Deadline: Rolling deadline effective until September 2016
Website: http://dsr.cise.ufl.edu/projects/
Project Description: Data Science extract knowledge and make prediction from big data with 5Vs. This project attempt at applying state-of-the-art data science technology to application domains such as Law, Ecology and Biomedical research in collaboration with domain researchers.
Project Title #1: Biomedical Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles
Department: Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos, carlos.rinaldi@ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): varies
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Sophomore, Junior, 2-5 students per term (new students when positions open)
Prerequisites: Passion for science and engineering, interest in research and in advancing technology, self-driven. Students from Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering encouraged to apply.
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none unless selected for University Scholars
Application Requirements: Resume and statement of research interest; email one pdf file with all application requirements to Carlos Rinaldi, carlos.rinaldi@ufl.edu
Application Deadline: March 1 for Summer and Fall terms; November 1 for Spring term
Website: http://www.bme.ufl.edu/labs/rinaldi/
Project Description: The Rinaldi lab is interested in biomedical applications of magnetic nanoparticles. We combine particle synthesis, modification, and characterization and fundamental understanding of response to magnetic actuation to advance applications in biomedical imaging, therapeutic delivery, and nanoscale thermal therapy. The research is interdisciplinary, combining concepts from biomedical, chemical, electrical, and materials science and engineering. Current efforts focus on developing tracers for magnetic particle imaging (MPI), an exciting new biomedical imaging modality that allows for non-invasive, unambiguous, and quantitative imaging of the in vivo distribution of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle tracers. This research involves nanoparticle synthesis and characterization, cell culture, animal studies, image analysis, 3D printing, and computer programming. Students interested in any of these aspects are encouraged to apply.
Project Title: Numerical Computing and Visualization
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Jorg Peters, jorg@cise.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): varies
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, Summer
Student Level: Sophomore, Junior, Senior; 2 students per term (new students when positions open)
Prerequisites: Discrete Math, Matlab — you will learn various geometry and graphics tools.
Credit: 0-3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none unless selected for University Scholars
Application Requirements: Official University transcript required. Email Professor Peters if interested.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
Website: http://www.bme.ufl.edu/labs/rinaldi/
Project Description: My projects change faster than this database will be updated. If you like math and computing, send me a note.
Project Title: Project #1 – Spatial Audio Localization Research
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Kyla McMullen, drkyla@ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): Chenshen (Jason) Wan
Terms Available: Summer
Student Level: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior; 1 Student Per Semester
Prerequisites: Java Programming, Data Structures, Signal Processing would be helpful
Credit: 3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none unless selected for University Scholars; after a trial period: $10 per hour up to 10 hours a week
Application Requirements: Resume, Faculty Interview; email Dr. McMullen (drkyla@ufl.edu) with your resume to request an interview
Application Deadline: Open until filled
Website: https://faculty.eng.ufl.edu/soundpad-lab/
Project Description: Head-related transfer functions used as digital filters show its ability to reproduce sound sources through headphones. One way to obtain HRTFs is to measure responses of spatial sound sources to probe microphones located at blocked ear entrances in an anechoic chamber. Research has shown that personalized HRTFs have many advantages over generic or non-individualized HRTFs and provide a more realistic hearing experience. Measurement is not a practical method to individualize HRTFs. We provide a numerical simulation method of individual HRTFs acquisition from 3-D scanned mesh. The project aims to collect a personalized HRTFs database to study the statistical relationship between spectral features and anthropometric features. Our research also conducts auditory perception tests for each simulated HRTF to compare the perception difference between simulated HRTFs and generic HRTFs. We also try to reduce the cone of confusion, a common phenomenon in virtual sound source localization.
The simulation and mesh scan prototype pipeline already exists. Students are welcome to help research teams in the following tasks:
● Participants’ 3-D head meshes acquisition and post-processing.
● Integrating mesh postprocessing procedures.
● Help team members perform perception tests and analyze data.
Project Title: Project #2 – Altering Sonic Cues to Improve Real-World Target Detection with 3D Audio
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Kyla McMullen, drkyla@ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): Armisha Roberts
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, and Summer
Student Level: Junior, Senior; 1 Student Per Semester
Prerequisites: Java Programming, Data Structures
Credit: 3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none unless selected for University Scholars; after a trial period: $10 per hour up to 10 hours a week
Application Requirements: Resume, Faculty Interview; email Dr. McMullen (drkyla@ufl.edu) with your resume to request an interview
Application Deadline: Open until filled
Website: https://faculty.eng.ufl.edu/soundpad-lab/
Project Description: 3D audio, commonly referred to as spatial audio, allows users to gather various forms of information quickly. Therefore, this work aims to assist firefighters in first responder situations in improving response times and their path traversed to locations of interest, based on how the 3D audio sound is presented. To achieve this feat, it is crucial to understand what sonic cues, if any, will need to be exaggerated or minimized to receive the best outcome possible within low visibility scenarios faced by firefighters to improve their localization of various points of interest.
The selected student will work closely with a graduate student to:
• Conduct hands-on human-centered studies
• Analyze the data collected in MATLAB
• Create digestible visualizations of the data in MATLAB
Project Title: Project #3 – An Augmented Reality Corsi Block-Tapping Test Framework
Department: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Kyla McMullen, drkyla@ufl.edu
Ph.D. Student Mentor(s): Terek Arce
Terms Available: Fall, Spring, and Summer
Student Level: Sophomore, Junior, Senior; 1 Student Per Semester
Prerequisites: Programming 1, Data Structures
Credit: 3 credits via EGN 4912
Stipend: none unless selected for University Scholars; after a trial period: $10 per hour up to 10 hours a week
Application Requirements: Resume, Faculty Interview; email Dr. McMullen (drkyla@ufl.edu) with your resume to request an interview
Application Deadline: Open until filled
Website: https://faculty.eng.ufl.edu/soundpad-lab/
Project Description: Everyday tasks such as getting a cup from the cupboard, driving to work, or clicking icons on a computer screen, make use of the human capacity to store and recall location information. More critical tasks, such as remembering the location of anatomical structures during a surgical operation or a fire escape during a fire, make use of the same ability. The part of human memory that allows us to remember where things are in our environment is commonly referred to as spatial memory. The importance of spatial memory to human action and interactions is an area of interest in various research fields, including psychology, medicine, and human-computer interaction. One of the most used tests for measuring spatial memory is the Corsi Block-Tapping Test (CBT). While physical CBTs have been used extensively to study human spatial memory in the physical world, few CBTs have been created to examine spatial memory in virtual worlds, such as those made with virtual and augmented reality headsets. The design of a digital CBT for virtual environments could lead to a better understanding of spatial memory in such environments. It could also allow for the creation of intuitive user interfaces and a deeper understanding of human spatial memory.
Research Tasks:The research team developed several augmented reality CBTs using the Microsoft Hololens. The selected student will assist in conducting subject studies relating to these CBTs. Tasks will include:
• Developing an understanding of how the Microsoft Hololens works (e.g., QR code registration, spatial anchors, and mappings)
• Developing an understanding of how various CBTs implemented in Augmented Reality (AR) measure aspects of spatial memory (e.g., walking versus reaching space)
• Collecting data on subject performance in AR CBTs
• Post-processing and analysis of subject’s CBT data.
The selected student may also assist in adding functionality (via the Unity game engine) to a final release of the CBT framework and porting the project to various VR devices such as the HTC Vive. While not required, familiarity with C#, Matlab, Python, and Unity will be helpful in completing the project.