A local high school is hosting a career day tomorrow, and I am going to be presenting with my supervisor here at Carleton's School of Computer Science. I am hoping that this opportunity to talk about what computer science is all about in front of two different groups of high school students will help me determine which topics they are interested in and use that information when preparing for the mini-course I'm giving this spring.
The presentation as it already exists is pretty good. The main idea is to show the students various aspects of computer science -- from graphics and geometry to computational biology to networking and security (and a few in between) -- using some fun examples the students can relate to.
I added a few fun slides in hopes that we might be able to keep their attention for the whole 40 minutes we have to talk. For example, after mentioning games and graphics, I stuck in a video trailer for Grand Turismo HD, which showcases the best graphics I've ever seen for a video game. To tie together the slides on networking and security, I added a snapshot of Facebook. I'm hoping to add just a little bit about audio because not many people realize how well computer science and music can tie together.
Here's hoping that we can convince a few young adults to consider pursuing a career in computer science, particularly here at Carleton!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Geek Envy
I recently received my Google Summer of Code t-shirt in the mail. Here are a couple of photos showing its awesomeness:
In related news from the Why Google Is So Well Loved department, I also received some swag for my Women in CS event coming up in December. I got enough umbrellas and sticky notepads for everyone who signed up (and for my guest speaker), and a few really nice mugs that I will probably draw names for. All of this has the Google women's logo, which I have never personally even seen before, making it rare in my eyes, and all the more special. I am certain that everyone who attends our event in a couple of weeks is going to love this stuff!
In related news from the Why Google Is So Well Loved department, I also received some swag for my Women in CS event coming up in December. I got enough umbrellas and sticky notepads for everyone who signed up (and for my guest speaker), and a few really nice mugs that I will probably draw names for. All of this has the Google women's logo, which I have never personally even seen before, making it rare in my eyes, and all the more special. I am certain that everyone who attends our event in a couple of weeks is going to love this stuff!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Anita Borg Scholarship
I plan to apply to this scholarship from Google, and if you are a Canadian computer science student, you should too!
Google Expands Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship to Canada!
http://www.google.ca/anitaborg/
Dr. Anita Borg (1949 - 2003) devoted her adult life to revolutionizing the way we think about technology and dismantling barriers that keep women and minorities from entering computing and technology fields. Her combination of technical expertise and fearless vision continues to inspire and motivate countless women to become active participants and leaders in creating technology. In honor of Dr. Borg's passion, for the past four years, we have sponsored a scholarship with the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology in the U.S., and more recently, Europe and Australia.
This year, we're excited to announce the expansion of the program to include Canada, where we're very pleased to offer an opportunity to both undergraduate students and postgraduates. Scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates' academic background and demonstrated leadership. A group of female undergraduate and graduate student finalists will be chosen from the applicant pool. The scholarship recipients will each receive a $5,000 CAD scholarship for the 2008-2009 academic year. The remaining finalists will receive $1000 CAD each.
All scholarship recipients and finalists will be invited to visit the Google engineering office in New York, on May 1-3, 2008 for a networking retreat which will include workshops with a series of speakers, panelists, breakout sessions and social activities.
We are looking for women who will carry on the legacy of Dr. Borg, with strong academic backgrounds and demonstrated leadership qualities.
Tell your friends, or apply yourself, at http://www.google.ca/anitaborg/
From the Google blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/anita-borg-scholarships-expand-to.html
Mini-Course Accepted!
I just got the good news about my proposed mini-course "Computer Science and Games: Not Just For Boys!" -- it was accepted! I was a little bit worried that it might not make it because there were apparently many more applications than needed courses, and some colleagues proposed a course on game design at the same time. I'm really excited to start hashing out the details of my many ideas for this course. Will keep you all updated!
More Tangible User Interfaces
Thanks to the wonders of Reddit (a link submission and ranking site), I found an article from Smashing Magazine that outlines what they consider to be the user interfaces of the future. I find it interesting that almost all of them are very clearly what I would call tangible user interfaces, which I wrote about earlier this month.
First up is the Cheoptics360 XL 3D video screen. Though it's difficult to tell exactly what's happening in the press video as opposed to seeing it in person, it looks like this setup will essentially present a video that can be viewed from any angle as you walk around the structure. It's not clear whether the video will look 3D to the viewer. The creators of this technology seem to tout it as a good way to get product information out there, and Smashing Magazine thinks it is the future of gaming. I'd like to add a third possibility: education. Can you imagine how great it would be for a museum to present video of an artifact in life size rather than having to physically display it? This is especially true for those things that can't be brought indoors, or that don't exist anymore; for example, you could present the streets of Germany after the WWII bombing in a war museum, or have an interactive view of dinosaurs in a natural history museum.
I believe this next example has been around for some time now, but it still impresses me. The Reactable "is a collaborative electronic music instrument with a tabletop tangible multi-touch interface." What an amazing idea for a totally new kind of music making device! It appears that even Icelandic singer Björk is on board with this one, using it in her Volta tour. The fact that this system is easy to learn without any manuals or instructions makes it a perfect way to help children learn about music. After all, no parent loves the sound of their kids learning the recorder!
The example photos of the showcased research on multi-touch interfaces can really remind you of the movie Minority Report. Check out this video, presented by a company that spun off from the research linked to by Smashing Magazine, Perceptive Pixel. Now, many of the tangible user interfaces discussed today make use of the multi-touch paradigm, so this isn't necessarily all that unique; however, the video really gives you a good feel for what multi-touch is all about. Notice the many different ways the hands are used to interact with the data presented on the screen: zooming, panning, drawing, tilting, and so on. These movements are very natural in a real-world kind of way.
Finally we have the BumpTop. This interface ditches the usual GUI desktop paradigm, which doesn't keep the connection between what documents laid out on a real desk look like and how they can be arranged on the screen. With BumpTop, you can pile your files up just like in the real world, organizing your stuff just how you want it. It is claimed that these piles and arrangements convey information about the data in themselves.
It is examples like these that continue to convince me that the future of user interfaces lies in the innovative solutions that bridge the gap between the physical and digital world. Long live tangible user interfaces!
First up is the Cheoptics360 XL 3D video screen. Though it's difficult to tell exactly what's happening in the press video as opposed to seeing it in person, it looks like this setup will essentially present a video that can be viewed from any angle as you walk around the structure. It's not clear whether the video will look 3D to the viewer. The creators of this technology seem to tout it as a good way to get product information out there, and Smashing Magazine thinks it is the future of gaming. I'd like to add a third possibility: education. Can you imagine how great it would be for a museum to present video of an artifact in life size rather than having to physically display it? This is especially true for those things that can't be brought indoors, or that don't exist anymore; for example, you could present the streets of Germany after the WWII bombing in a war museum, or have an interactive view of dinosaurs in a natural history museum.
I believe this next example has been around for some time now, but it still impresses me. The Reactable "is a collaborative electronic music instrument with a tabletop tangible multi-touch interface." What an amazing idea for a totally new kind of music making device! It appears that even Icelandic singer Björk is on board with this one, using it in her Volta tour. The fact that this system is easy to learn without any manuals or instructions makes it a perfect way to help children learn about music. After all, no parent loves the sound of their kids learning the recorder!
The example photos of the showcased research on multi-touch interfaces can really remind you of the movie Minority Report. Check out this video, presented by a company that spun off from the research linked to by Smashing Magazine, Perceptive Pixel. Now, many of the tangible user interfaces discussed today make use of the multi-touch paradigm, so this isn't necessarily all that unique; however, the video really gives you a good feel for what multi-touch is all about. Notice the many different ways the hands are used to interact with the data presented on the screen: zooming, panning, drawing, tilting, and so on. These movements are very natural in a real-world kind of way.
Finally we have the BumpTop. This interface ditches the usual GUI desktop paradigm, which doesn't keep the connection between what documents laid out on a real desk look like and how they can be arranged on the screen. With BumpTop, you can pile your files up just like in the real world, organizing your stuff just how you want it. It is claimed that these piles and arrangements convey information about the data in themselves.
It is examples like these that continue to convince me that the future of user interfaces lies in the innovative solutions that bridge the gap between the physical and digital world. Long live tangible user interfaces!
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