David Sprague's Home Page
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How head registration quality alters a subject's
perspective in a virtual environment. |
Theses Sprague, D. (2006). The Importance of Accurate Head Registration
for Fine Motor Performance in VR.
Master's thesis, Department of Computer Science, University of British
Columbia [PDF]. Sprague,
D. (2001). Teaching Children to Computer Program:
An Initial Software Design and Graphical User Interface for an Object
Oriented Mini-Language. B.Sc. (Honours) Thesis, Department of Computing
and Information Sciences, Queen’s University at Kingston. Unpublished
manuscript. ·
Researched the use of
simple programming languages, or mini-languages for teaching programming and
logic skills to elementary school children.
·
Designed the initial
program architecture using UML and coded the initial Java framework for the
graphic user interface. Conference Publications Sprague,
D., Po, B. and Booth, K. (2006). The Importance of Accurate VR Head
Registration on Skilled Motor Performance. In Graphics Interface 2006. In
Print [PDF]. ·
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Examined subject movement times and accuracy during a
Fitts-like tapping task, both in virtual reality (VR) and without VR. ·
The measured eye to head-mounted display screen vector
was systematically perturbed for the three VR viewing conditions. ·
These results suggest that sensorimotor adaptation
enables subjects to perform the motor task in a variety of viewing
conditions. Motor performances in the three VR conditions were effectively
equivalent. Head registration does
not seem as critically important as previous research suggests. ·
Planned, programmed, and tested a chemistry
simulation designed to encourage students to generate and evaluate their
mental models about chemical equilibriums. ·
Active member of the TEMBS project,
studying how G.E.M. approach to model based learning can be facilitated
though computer simulations. ·
Supervised two other programmers to implement and
test a simulation written in Java.
This simulation was successfully completed within the required 4-month
project time frame. Unpublished Research Sprague, D., Po, B., Swindells, C., and
K. Booth (2005). The Role of
Haptic Manipulation in Aiding Mental Rotation Tasks. ·
Designed and implemented a stereo vision, head
tracking virtual reality (VR) program using C++, OpenGL, a Polhemus Fastrak,
a haptic input device, and a high definition head mounted display. ·
VR system used to examine how aspects of haptic input
in immersive VR training lead to a sense of user “presence” and result in the
reduced gender differences in Shepard-Metzler mental rotation task
performance reported by Rizzo et al. (2001). ·
The
importance of head registration quality was unknown was considered a
potential cause for the lack of statistical significance. This project led directly to my thesis
research. Berry, L., Coelho W., McCormick, E., Sprague, D., and Young T.
(2004). SourceSight Code Navigation System. CPSC 544 course project,
University of British Columbia. Unpublished [PDF]. ·
The
SourceSight system enables users to navigate, explore, and add code via a
single UML-like interface. This is
thought to facilitate design comprehension for large multi-user projects and
ensures that all programmers keep the original software design in mind. ·
Developed
using a user centered design approach. ·
Personally
responsible for designing, piloting and running the end of term user study. Presentations Sprague, D. (2006). The Importance of Accurate Head
Registration for Fine Motor Performance in VR. One hour M.Sc. thesis presentation, Interaction Design Reading
Group, Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia. Sprague, D., Trey, L. (2005). How Computer
Simulations Can Assist Model Generation In Students: Providing an Adaptable
Structure to Guide Student Learning. At Proceedings of World Conference on
Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (ED-MEDIA) 2005,
Montreal QC, Canada. Service June 2005 - Imager Lab Social
Coordinator March 2006 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC ·
Planned and coordinated the lab's annual summer
BBQ and December holiday party with 2 other graduate students. ·
Each event had more than 50 attendants. Oct. 2003 - Interaction Design
Reading Group Member Present University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC ·
Actively involved member of a weekly reading group where
papers on human-computer interaction, user testing, computer-supported
cooperative work, and visualization are discussed and critiqued. Feb.
2004 Graduate
Representative: Undergraduate Affairs Committee March 2005 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC ·
Provided a graduate student voice for discussions of
undergraduate administration issues, including TA quality and the newly created
undergraduate learning centre. Feb.
2004 Computer
Science Graduate Student Association: Beer Czar Feb. 2005 University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
BC ·
Arranged the weekly meeting at the graduate pub for
department graduate students. ·
Required to create a weekly email to entertain
fellow students and to encourage attendance.
The beer call archived is here. |
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The TEMBS simulation in the "analogy mode." |
