Mike Oren.com

As part of finishing up, documenting, and cleaning up my work for my Masters, I have finally gotten around to releasing a new version of my audio game. This is the same version that I used for the user studies, but has the full list of audio options and restricts the player to 3 lives for the regular version of the game (to add a little bit more challenge). This version could still use some documentation, but I am unlikely to get to that any time soon; however, if you have questions please feel free to e-mail me. Most of my work was in tying up some loose ends with the haptics project and upgrading to the latest version of the API.

Starting on Monday I'll officially be on the Battlespace and Multi-touch project, and I am well aware that there is some irony in moving from an enabling project (audio game that provides access to platform games for the visually impaired) to an arguably disabling project (multi-touch is a technology that in its current state does not really allow persons with visual impairments to use and potentially the same can be said about those missing a hand, arm, or some fingers). I'm pretty excited to get started on it though, and I have a few ideas on some projects I want to work on to explore collaboration and try to improve co-located collaboration.

I'm also excited about getting involved with the Sociology program this semester as I start my co-major in that, which I think will be crucial in fully understanding the collaborative nature of multi-touch tables and the C6 (six sided virtual reality CAVE). This semester I'll be taking the introductory seminar as well as a history of sociology course.

And on a personal note, since the beginning of the semester I have lost 10-15 pounds primarily just through lifestyle changes in what I eat (not a diet--I don't eat less, I just eat smarter). I am now what I've found is called a Flexitarian (eat mostly vegetarian, but I make exceptions when eating out or when I pick up a grass fed chicken). I am also eating more fruits and vegetables and avoiding high fructose corn syrup and other heavily processed foods--but I still eat primarily quick, easy to make meals (just using the vegetarian equivalent) and spending roughly the same amount--maybe an additional $10 per week. I find myself less winded now and generally in much better mental and physical shape.

Since my last post, I decided to stay on for my PhD (changing projects and advisers though--focusing on collaborative user interfaces and picking up a co-major in Sociology), wrote and revised my thesis, successfully defended it, went on a cruise, went to Universal Studios Florida and Disney World, and was accepted to the Season of Usability SIP-Communicator project (I'll discuss this in a later post this summer). I also finished up my iPhone cultural usability study for my design class (based on the results, from a small sample size, we improved the efficiency of the interface for al cultural groups of interest and reduced the performance gap between cultures). Oh, and my first journal article (on the audio game) was preliminarily accepted for publication (I'm currently in the process of making the requested revision for publication).

And for those of you who haven't been following the news, Obama won the Democratic nomination which is good because I was supporting him for the nomination--I need to examine McCain and Obama's policies more before I decide between them as I have always liked McCain (as I pride myself in my moderate views) although I am very much against the Iraq war and have been for some time and am even more against warrant less wiretapping so those are two very large point against McCain who seems to have opted for a shift to the right in his desire for power.

So there's been a lot going on, and I've also been trying to get into better health. I am once again trying to be healthier, but now I've gone for a more workable system as I have not cut out 'convenience food' but am eating healthier convenience food (e.g. veggie burgers as opposed to cheap hamburgers; yogurt instead of candy as a dessert item; etc) and added more fruits and vegetables to my meals. In addition, I have bought a small stair stepping machine to use in the morning, bought a bike to ride on days it doesn’t rain (and is warm enough)--just rode for about 40 minutes this evening, and I am taking a daily multi-vitamin with apple cider vinegar diluted with water (supposedly apple cider vinegar helps the digestion/use of vitamins/minerals--although the health benefits of multivitamin pills in general are somewhat disputed based on an article that popped up in my Google News feed about a month ago).

More updates (including some to the other pages) are forthcoming, but until then feel free to flip through these unedited images of my graduation vacation (with my older brother--who finished his B.A., my younger brother--who finished high school, and my mother--who funded the trip).

Vacation 2008 - Cruise and Orlando

I had to renew my hosting contract this month, which means MikeOren.com is another year older (I forget if it's 3 or 4 years old...) To celebrate, I am taking some time out to write another post *throws confetti*. Perhaps my time would be better spent updating the other pages of the site (almost all of which require updating--although I did upload a new PDF of my resume; the HTML version is still as outdated as ever), but I have other priorities (such as a journal paper I'm working on submitting, and my thesis that I should eventually finish). I did take some time and upload a copy of my H3D/haptics project to YouTube (the video was created and edited by Adam Faeth, another graduate researcher on the project--and the same person who created the Wiicussion video):



That video was created for an IEEE VR '08 sketch paper that we wrote (and was accepted). I won't be attending the conference as it is two weeks before I defend my thesis and as I'm sure I'll need to be working on my presentation slides at that point, but anyway, I thought some of you might find the video interesting.

Things have gotten better with Danielle and myself recently, hopefully they stay that way this time... I should be seeing her next weekend when I go back for an aptly timed visit, which will also include celebrating my grandmother's birthday (besides celebrating Valentine's Day with Danielle--albeit a day or two late).

Aside from my thesis (and the previously mentioned journal paper), I've been having fun doing in-class evaluations of the iPhone and working with the graphic designer on prototypes for a new "India and China friendly" iPhone interface--we're also hoping to take greater advantage of the touch capabilities of the iPhone. The formal study should be taking place sometime in March. I know one of my partners on the project is hoping we can get a conference paper out of this, but I will wait and see how everything goes before I even consider that. Besides the aforementioned journal article, I am also about to begin work on an ASSETS '08 conference paper with the spatial mapping data of my audio game (that's about the only part of my audio game that I haven't written about yet, and an interesting although very time consuming portion of it).

Also, having done taxes last weekend and placing an order for a Tivo HD with lifetime subscription this week... I realize that Danielle is completely right in regards to me spending too much on electronics as all of my money that isn't going towards paying bills/esssentials (or taking Danielle out for dinner, movies, etc. when I'm able to see her) is going towards electronics and I'm spending far too much on them. So, I think, with the exception of "must have" games (like Super Smash Bros. for Wii), that it is high time I lock my credit cards up in my safe deposit box (again) and stop buying things. I should note that none of the non-game electronics I've bought in the past year or two have been on a random whim--they've all been things I had been wanting for at least a year and bought them either due to wanting to reward myself (e.g. HDTV when I got the Google internship) and/or due to finding good deals (Tivo doesn't offer lifetime subscriptions anymore other than on rare occasions, and I don't like monthly fees). Still, a lot of these things I could have (and probably should have waited on). Games are another story (and another problem) though, as I am now up to 22 Wii games and over 30 virtual console games (I also have 4 Wii remotes and 4 nunchuks for it). Not all (probably half or less--it includes Wii Sports, Wii Play, Link's Crossbow Adventure, Endless Ocean, and several other smaller titles) of those games were $50, but that's still a lot of money I sunk into the system. Part of me can't help it though as it's been awhile since I've had a system I've been this excited about and a lot of these games redefine their genres or introduce interesting control schemes and that excites me as a long time gamer... Of course I don't have time to beat the majority of these games... but then even when I was younger, I rarely beat the games I had. For me, it isn't about "winning" the game, it is about the experience and a diversion. So slowing down the games thing might be slightly harder for me, but my hope is that if I have my credit cards locked away and delete my saved credit card information off of Amazon that my temptation will be that much less (as it will require considerably more work to buy things that I don't need).

Update: So I forgot that my site registration and hosting no longer match... I made this post with the knowledge that I was paying to renew my hosting agreement. My site actually only turned a half year older (it is 2 and a half). Not that anybody is actually paying attention ;)