Federal gov't funds York research on virtual reality, computer vision, and educational computer games

TORONTO, October 18, 2002 -- The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) today announced funds for research at York University in virtual reality systems, computer vision, and the design of online educational computer games, in the latest round of CFI New Opportunities funding for researchers at universities across Canada.

"Attracting and retaining high-caliber researchers to our universities is absolutely vital to Canada's ability to compete in a knowledge-based global economy,"said Minister of Industry Allan Rock, in announcing the funds. York's research on virtual reality systems is expected to produce improvements in virtual reality displays that enable more effective performance of machine tasks from a distance, such as robotic search and rescue in high-risk environments. The work on computer game design with an educational focus is intended to improve the technological literacy of educators and learners by integrating play and learning in software designed by educators themselves, rather than technology specialists alone. The work on computer vision is to develop machines/computers that can see, enabling them to interact with us in a way that is far more natural and useful than currently possible.

Prof. Robert Allison
Depth Perception and Virtual Reality

Robert Allison is one of the few researchers in the field with expertise in psychophysics, coupled with a strong background in computer engineering. He is studying stereoscopic vision and depth perception to improve the visual presentation in advanced virtual reality environments that are used in a variety of applications, from computer-aided design to robotics or tele-operated machinery. He looks at how we re-construct a three-dimensional perception of the world around us from the two-dimensional images on the retinas, by considering how the brain processes the difference between the images on the two eyes to create stereoscopic depth. Allison has been very influential in developing understanding of binocular vision and stereopsis. He was the first to provide a complete description of the basic spatial and temporal properties of the eye-movement response to vertical disparities, and he has provided important insights into the role of vertical disparities in depth perception. Contact: 416-736-2100, ext. 20192, email: allison@cs.yorku.ca.

Prof. Jennifer Jenson
Play in Computer Environments Studio (PlayCES)

Jennifer Jenson is building a studio dedicated to the research, design and development of play-based multimedia learning environments and tools, produced by and for educators. Jenson argues that the development of computer-based educational resources by technology specialists alone has been a significant impediment to technology integration in the educational field. An active proponent of incorporating 'play' into learning experiences, her project, "Ludus Vitae," co-developed with Suzanne De Castell at Simon Fraser University, looks to commercial computer game environments to provide educators with models for the design of play-based educationally rich learning activities. Making use of broadband networks already in place in most schools across Canada, the project will result in the creation of a functional, educational, online gaming environment that supports Junior Secondary curriculum content in Arts and Sciences. Jenson's studio, a partner of the Institute for Research on Learning Technologies at York, will be housed in the new Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) building scheduled to open on the Keele campus in 2003. Contact: 416-736-2100, ext. 88787, email: jjenson@edu.yorku.ca.

Prof. Richard Wildes
Calibrated Active Vision Laboratory for Stereo & Motion Analysis

Richard Wildes' research is in the general area of computer vision, the attempt to endow machines with a sense of sight. From a theoretical point of view this is an important endeavour exploring fundamental issues in complex information processing, which may yield results that bear on our understanding of visual information processing in humans. From a practical point of view, machines that can see have the potential to interact with humans in a much more natural and useful fashion than is currently the case. Wildes' studies are focused on how information about the physical and geometric structure of the world can be recovered from a collection of camera images of a scene of interest (eg. from a binocular image pair or a video sequence). Applications of interest include aerospace, geomatics, human computer interfaces and augmented reality. Contact: 416-736-2100, ext. 40203, wildes@cs.yorku.ca.

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