Teaching

I am currently offering the following courses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

Comp 790: Virtual Reality and Game Development

Next offering: Spring 2022
Expected enrollment: 40 students

This course is designed to introduce students to the field of virtual reality (VR) and provide students with hands-on experience developing games for modern virtual and augmented reality systems. In the course, students learn about the historical development of virtual reality technology and virtual reality as a research field, gain mastery of fundamental principles, algorithms, and design patterns in game design, discover the perceptual science behind mixed reality technologies, and explore libraries and tools for creating VR experiences such as WebGL and Unity. The course presents students with individual assignments and a semester-long team project to develop a fully-functional application for a modern head-mounted display (e.g., Google Cardboard, Oculus Quest, or Microsoft HoloLens). The course is primarily designed for computer science students. However, students from other programs that are interested in virtual and augmented reality technologies are encouraged to reach out to discuss whether they might still have the appropriate background to take the class.

Some examples of student final projects from prior offerings of this course are shown below:

Comp 790: Human-Robot Interaction

Next offering: Fall 2022
Expected enrollment: 10–30 students

The field of human-robot interaction (HRI) is rapidly emerging as a significant interdisciplinary research area that focuses on developing robotic technologies and interfaces that enable robots to effectively work with and alongside people. This course introduces students to HRI theory, principles, methods, and applications by bringing together knowledge from robotics, artificial intelligence, human factors, human-computer interaction, design, cognitive psychology, education and other domains. Coursework includes readings and discussions focused on the state-of-the-art in HRI research, focused team exercises and problem-solving sessions involving human-robot interaction challenges, and a semester-long research project resulting in the implementation and evaluation of a human-robot system for a specific application. This course is designed for graduate students in computer science. However, advanced undergraduates and graduate students from other disciplines may take the course with the permission of the instructor.