My research is positioned in the general area of human-computer interaction, combining the study of user interaction & interfaces, virtual reality, technology-enhanced learning (especially for informal education contexts) & interactive learning environments at large, new media art, and cultural technology. Following a 12-year career of applying principles from the above fields into practice, I completed my doctoral degree in Computer Science to tie this experience together. My doctoral research at the University College London was supervised by Prof. Mel Slater and Dr. Martin Oliver (London Knowledge Lab, IoE).

Since I do not work within an academic or research lab context in a tenure-track appointment, my research activity is primarily carried out through collaborations in EU-funded research projects (e.g., INTUITION, the CREATE project, 2002-2005, etc., see the projects and publications pages for more).

Research Theme: Interactivity in immersive virtual environments

The Virtual Playground
2002 - 2006

The Virtual Playground is an engaging simulation environment for children between 8 and 12 years old. In this playground, the child user assumes the role of a designer that must carry out tasks, such as planning the layout of the playground by modifying, resizing and placing its various elements. These tasks require solving mathematical fraction problems. The VP is used for my current research in evaluating interactivity in VEs for learning. Virtual Playground project page

The NICE project
1996 - 1997

The NICE Project (Narrative-based, Immersive, Constructionist / Collaborative Environments) is an interactive virtual reality learning environment for young children. I have led the design, production, and evaluation of this collaborative project, which started in January 1995 and is continuously being enhanced. As a learning environment, NICE combines educational theories of constructivism, narative development, and collaborative work. NICE has been featured extensively in national and international press, including the Chicago Sun Times (12/14/97) and Graduating Engineer (Nov/Dec '97). A whole chapter of the book Understanding Virtual Reality by W. Sherman and A. Craig (Morgan Kaufmann Publishers 2003) has been dedicated to the NICE project.
My Master of Science thesis work was entitled Issues in the Design and Evaluation of a Virtual Reality Learning Environment." The NICE project provided the virtual reality learning environment for my studies. I completed preliminary evaluation studies with 52 children between the ages of 6 and 10. M.Sc. committee: Prof. Thomas A. DeFanti, Prof. Thomas G. Moher, Dr. Mark Gillingham.

http://www.evl.uic.edu/tile/NICE/

CREATE
2002 - 2005

I was responsible for initiating the IST-funded research project CREATE (Constructivist Mixed Reality for Design and Education), which included two case studies of learning/training environments, for cultural heritage education and for architecture & urban planning design.

http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/create/

POLYMECHANON Science park
2008 - present

Through my company, makebelieve, I have co-designed and developed a set of gesture-based interactive exhibits for the POLYMECHANON Technology Fun Park in Athens.

> POLYMECHANON @ Allou! video
> The Wobble Board exhibit video
> The Shape Sorter game video

http://www.makebelieve.gr