Abstract: What is virtual reality? Beyond Disneyland and the movies: what does it mean to conduct research in VR? Sample a tapas of research work in the field of virtual reality with a side of discussion concerning open questions and ethical issues as this field enters the mainstream of our daily professional and personal lives. This talk will primarily focus on virtual environments, virtual humans, and 3D user interfaces. How does the method of exploration of environments affect cognition? Is it real friendship if it is with a virtual human? How can virtual humans affect the way we perform our daily tasks? How can interfaces that control the way our hands work in cooperation and coordination together affect the way we interact with a 3D environment? There is so much more to this field, but hopefully with this sample you'll get a flavor for a few of the challenges and enjoyments it has to offer.

Biography: Dr. Amy C. Ulinski received the Ph.D. degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in computer science in 2008 under the advisement of Dr. Larry Hodges. Currently, she is a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Computing at Clemson University. Additionally she is an alumna of Duquesne University as she has earned a B.S. in computer science and a B.A. in studio arts in 2003. Her research interests include 3D user interfaces, human-centered computing, visualizations, virtual environments, and virtual humans. She is a member of IEEE and ACM computing societies. For more information, feel free to contact her at aulinsk@clemson.edu.