Developer of immersive collaborative experiences for entertainment, and education

Research focus intersects HCI and learning science for intuitive 3D UIs in immersive environments

Goal is to help define the next-gen computer system interface of AR/VR technology

Here is some documentation for my recent work at Snap involving the World Mesh, Custom Locations, and the Custom Location Creator Lens:

9/20/23: live stream I hosted on World Mesh 2.0 release
9/13/23: blog post on tech releases I worked on for World Mesh and Custom Locations
7/18/23: live stream I cohosted on City Scale Location AR technology in Lens Studio
6/13/23: live stream I hosted on Custom Location AR technology in Lens Studio
1/24/23: live stream I hosted on best practices for location AR in Lens Studio
Video walkthrough of the Creator Lens is available on this documentation page
UX research case study on Creator Lens

Ph.D. Dissertation Thesis: UX Research of AR/VR Learning Environments - 2019/2020

Oculus Quest and mobile AR prototype of a computer science educational application currently focusing on binary math, next iteration will be on bubble sort. The experience is designed around free moving abilities of the new Oculus Quest platform, which is completely untethered to any wires or computers, making it and excellent case study for learning environments involving physical activity within VR.

5/28/19 - Completed first prototype iteration
6/08/19 - Completed user testing on 50 middle school students
6/14/19 - Learning assessments confirm VR experience is as effective as an instructor led lesson following csunplugged.org
6/28/19 - Finish refining core interactions, UX/UI, and learning goals before moving on to graphics, narrative and audio
9/24/19 - Completed refinement of binary math level and presented demo at Oculus Connect 6 Educational Summit
10/5/19 - Finished cleaning scripts after OC6 demo
10/27/19 - Starting low fidelity prototype of VR bubble sort level
11/22/19 & 3/12/20 - User testing of VR bubble sort level

HERE is the current apk file of the high fidelity prototype of the binary math level of CSpresso. You have to sideload it onto the Quest, and use your thumb controller to move the stations closer to you if you are not in a 20’ x 20’ playable area.

Walkthrough of the Oculus Quest low fidelity prototype demoed in editor with the Rift.

Walkthrough of our binary math level of C-Spresso for Oculus Quest. Walkthrough is done in editor with the Rift using movement from the handsets, not actually walking around the 20'x20' space.

Walkthrough of the high fidelity mobile AR prototype.

Binary Math VR Experience - Development process and user testing

Copy of Copy of TaskStation_TextureColor_Sheet.jpg

Number station interaction for binary math level.

Color station interaction for binary math level.

Binary Math AR Experience - Development process and user testing

Bubble Sort VR Experience - Development process and user testing

Social VR Research - 2019

Learning Science Paper | Usability Paper | Usability Study | Logistics | Curriculum

Learning communities are groups of people who meet semi-regularly over shared academic goals. These groups are documented to provide positive impact on the participants’ academic performance. VR has the potential to expand existing learning communities, and create new ones where not previously possible. We ran a VR collaboration study that resulted in a followup usability study for object contextualization for VR users with the design idea of a card catalog.

VR session of four participant collaboration exercise

Usability study scenario of object contextualization

VR Eye Tracking Therapy Game - 2017

UX Design Doc

Haunted Seas is a VR vision therapy game, designed to enhance patient compliance in young patients when undergoing therapy for a condition called Convergence Insufficiency Syndrome. I designed the requirements for implementing the analog vision therapy into a VR vision therapy game, developed the application with C# in Unity, and conducted user testing for iterative sprint development. The game mechanics were designed to use eye tracking in VR using the Fove headset, and was designed to engage the patient with repeated eye rotations. The VR therapy was tested at the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital and was proven to be effective in improving both the therapy experience and recover rate for patients. It has recently won the European Auggie Award for “Most Innovative Breakthrough” at the 2018 AWE (Augmented World Expo) EU conference.

Research award video including some explanation of my role on the project.

Demo video of the VR vision therapy game showing one therapy repetition that repeats with pauses for patient rests for a one hour session.

Demo video of the VR vision therapy game with eye tracking disabled. Game mechanics are simplified and sped up to demo one hour therapy in a few minutes. Audio is placeholder and was replaced in final version.

High School AR/VR Computer Science Curriculum - 2019

Overview | Part 1: 3D Dev | Part 2: VR Dev | Part 3: EdTech Design

Pre-college AR/VR Educational Research Paper | Undergrad AR/VR Collab Studio Paper

We are currently funded by NJ Department of Education for development of high school VR curriculum for public release. Curriculum is being developed in collaboration with Oculus Education, Unity Education, Seattle WA and Elizabeth NJ school systems. We have recently finished part 1 of the curriculum, Introduction to 3D Development, and tested it in our undergraduate program before handing the material to the high school curriculum developers for refinement. We expect to complete part 2 of the curriculum, Introduction to VR Development on 6/20.

3D painting app running on Facebook Portal for OC6

3D painting app ported to VR for user control tutorial

VR User Experience (UX) Investigation Tool - 2018

Design Document | Unity Documentation | Code

A reasonably self-contained, extensible Unity package that can be brought into Unity-developed, Android-deployed virtual reality applications for the purposes of investigating Human Computer Interaction through time-stamped records of user activity, visually recorded samples of the interaction and audio recordings of any comments the user may have made during the application usage. Meant to solve the following problem:

When users attempt to examine our virtual reality applications, they are limited by the inherent constraints of virtual reality, and the difficulty of gathering time-sensitive perceptions. Within the controlled environment of the lab there are techniques and technologies which can catch these perceptions, but in the field, it is not possible to gather the depth of information required to examine the user experience at a later time. Additionally, it can be difficult to determine what analytics ultimately need to be accounted for (and therefore which records need to be retained) during the virtual reality application experience.

Length of each task completed by participants captured from VR UX investigation tool

Position of participants during tasks captured from VR UX investigation tool

Integrating VR into Secondary STEM Education Study - 2017

Learning Science Paper | Usability UX Paper | Personalization UX Paper

While the next generation of educational technologies, such as monitor-based and VR applications, are still in their infancy, they do show promise for improving education. In this study, we compared monitor-based and VR educational technologies as alternative supplemental learning environments to traditional classroom instruction using lectures, textbooks, and physical labs. We conducted the study in four high school chemistry classes, as chemistry education is well-suited for visually enhanced explanations for learning abstract concepts, and provides a solid testing situation for current and extended reality educational technologies. Ultimately, this research project serves as a foundation to determine whether educational technologies have the potential to engage high school students in their STEM classes. Successful integration of educational technologies into the public school system curricula may be a viable solution to engage students in STEM education.

Mobile VR Open House Demo - 2018

Code | WebGL | APK | Builds ETA end of 6/20

GearVR experience for NJIT College of Computing open houses. Its meant to demonstrate aspects of programmatic thinking to prospective programming students and their parents in a gamified manner. Experience is 3 levels of controlling a space exploration vessel through the solar system to Mars.

Mobile VR Emulation Environment - 2018

WebGL Build | Code

Unity editor emulation environment I built for students in my mobile VR development classes. Its meant for developers to test out mobile VR experiences quickly on editor play mode without having to use a desktop VR headset or build to the phone to try out the controller interactions, which are emulated with mouse controls. Its an early work in progress. Goal is to decouple the scripts from Oculus SDK to make it a plug and play Unity package enabling easy build process for both Mobile VR applications and WebGL demos.

VR 3D UI Prototyping - 2016

Prototyped 3D UI/UX concepts communicating product team wireframes to development team at YouVisit LLC
Developed interactive VR experiences with C# in Unity for Daydream, GearVR, and Cardboard
Designed 3D content for mixing CG and video content into interactive VR experiences

Military Interactive Simulation Training - 2013

Picatinny Mortar Training Program

The U.S. Army is the world's largest user of training products and services, and I was involved with providing both interactive and non-interactive computer graphic training solutions. I worked off-base with military contractors and then on base with ARDEC (Army Research, Development & Engineering Center) for over three years. Recently, Gizmodo wrote an article and created a video showcasing the interactive training project I was working on. This is fortunate as I am unable to show most of my work from this time.

Click play button above for video playback.

Military Demo Reel - 2011

Unfortunately, I am not able to show material from the last two years I have worked with ARDEC, but I can show material from the year before that when I was off-base with a military contractor. You can view my military demo reel here or click play above. Please note that I was required to have no sound playing for this demo reel when I used it to apply for the on-base job. On-base, I have worked extensively with motion capture systems, 3D scanners, the adobe, autodesk and unreal products to design and develop in all production areas for training simulations.

Visual Special Effects - 2011

This series of VFX Animation work is based upon a web series called "The New Kind". I have been involved with this production over the last four years, starting as a modeler, mocap artist and animator. I moved on to CG Supervisor to directly manage all supervisors and their teams of artists. I helped run the successful $100k kickstarter campaign and moved on to two part-time positions: Technical Director, managing the VFX production pipeline and Director of the Mentorship Program, creating internship opportunities for young artists to work alongside seasoned industry veterans.

THE NEW KIND: Episode I "The Ordinary World"

Click play button above for video playback.

THE NEW KIND Part 2

Click play button above for video playback.

THE NEW KIND: Episode I "The Ordinary World"

Motion Graphics - 2012

Motion Design Reel 2014 - Click play button above

These video links comprise my motion design and video editing professional portfolio. The projects are comprised of videos and motion graphics from a web series called "The New Kind" and a graphic novel series called "Tales from the Mist". I was hired to produce eight videos called "Origins of the Mist" used as an introduction into the world of "Tales from the Mist". I was responsible for the motion graphics, compositing, directing and video editing.

Origins of the Mist 101 - Beginnings

Origins of the Mist 102 - Skrawlerz

Origins of the Mist 103 - Four Elements

Origins Of The Mist 104 - Piecekreepers

Origins Of The Mist 105 - Prophets of Doom

Origins Of The Mist 106 - Iron Wyrmz

Origins Of The Mist 107 - Dr. Evol

Origins Of The Mist 108 - Aerosol Demonz

Motion Design Reel 2014 - Click play button above

Origins Of The Mist 105 - Prophets of Doom

Origins Of The Mist 108 - Aerosol Demonz

2D Animation - 2011

The Life of Annie Bonnie the Pirate Queen - Click play button above

This is an animation I created telling the story of the pirate queen Annie Bonnie. Inspired by the artwork of Jessica Ross (artofgingerjess.com). Original music by Taralyn Martinez. Done in photoshop and after effects.

Tales From The Mist Trailer

I was hired to translate the first chapter of a graphic novel series into a 2D animation trailer, an interactive app and 3D print figurine for marketing purposes. The graphic novel series is written and illustrated by a well-established artist, Carmelo Sigona, from his studio, Fly Dragon Studio. I was responsible for designing and managing the entire production process and crew. I directed the team of animators, artists, modelers, designers and programmers as well as producing a lot of the motion graphics, animations, sound effects and video editing. The interactive augmented reality app plays content from the trailer when the smart phone is pointed at pages of the actual graphic novel. Trailer is not public yet, but will update this page once it is public.