I am a PhD student in the Human Computer Interaction Group at Stanford University. I work on building tools to help field scientists collect, organize, and share their research. In the past, I have designed interactions with computers that take computer-vision as an input channel; I value education applications (especially for kids), and also like to teach (both at the college/university level, and at the elementary school level).

I am advised by Assistant Professor Scott Klemmer. I also work closely with Dr. Andreas Paepcke and Professor Terry Winograd (who was my advisor before Dr. Klemmer joined our lab).

My dissertation research includes my work in building tools for field biology researchers. The ButterflyNet system is a mobile capture & access system, which enables scientists to capture data in the field (with paper notebooks, cameras, and other devices) and then organize, visualize, and share this data when they are back at the lab. GIGAprints expands the concept of paper interfaces, and includes large interactive paper surfaces. Finally, the R3 Paper Applications Toolkit enables designers and developers to more easily create systems like ButterflyNet and GIGAprints.

Personal Information

Gates Computer Science Building, Office #386
Stanford University
ronyeh cs stanford edu (you figure out the rest)

Current Research

Field Tools and ButterflyNet (BNet)


Interactive Gigapixel Prints (GIGAprints)

Paper Applications Toolkit (R3)

Past Projects

Flowmap Layout

I worked with Doantam Phan and others on building a system to lay out flow maps automatically. I built some of the database software for the system, and helped Doantam with the initial design of the system. The picture of the flowmap on the globe (right) was created using the flow map tools, and presented in the UK Interdependence Report.

The Frosty Gift Finder

I threw together some of the technologies that I have been working with to create a small holiday exhibit for the Holiday Decorating Contest in the Gates Building. This toy project enabled users to write their wish on a piece of paper, and Frosty the Snowman would search the Web and find an appropriate gift. Check out our holiday decorations on the holiday archives, by Dan Morris.

Christmas Caroloke SouthPark Plugin

A year before Frosty, I added a plugin to Augusto Román's Christmas Caroloke Exhibit. The SouthPark-styled 3B characters would sing along as people sang on Augusto's exhibit. We integrated our socket-based software precisely one hour before the judging.

 

You're the Conductor, TCM Boston

I collaborated with Jan Borchers, Teresa Marrin Nakra, and Eric Lee on a project for The Children's Museum, Boston. The You're the Conductor system allows kids to conduct the Boston Pops with an infrared baton. Eric implemented an algorithm to timestretch audiowith minimal artifacts. I worked on early design, helped coordinate video digitization and production (used Premiere and After Effects a bunch), and the final setup and integration w/ Eric's software.

ORWELL

My team conducted a user-centered design process for a web-based application for 4th-6th graders to research and write class reports. We worked with a local school in the Berkeley area to recruit participants for our user studies.

SimEgg

As a mini-fun-project, I designed a Macromedia Flash app to teach users how to cook omelettes (through an exploratory, trial-and-error interface). The app included a fun French chef agent (a friend of Msr. Clippy). =D

Boomtown

At Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) in 2002, I worked on a set of gesture interaction tools for a video game called Boomtown, in the spirit of the then recently released movie, Minority Report.

We used retroreflective tape/markers on various form-factor devices, such as gloves, foam balls, and squeezable foam shapes (which allowed "pinch" gestures).

Rendering SeaShells

At UC Berkeley, Jackie Teng and I made a couple of fun graphics projects, including a CS184 top-scoring rendering of seashells, and a short animation on the Brothers Grimm Fairytales.

First Trials in Programming

Recollex was my first real piece of software. I worked on it with Hung Phan back in 1993. We were just kids then, playing with Visual Basic 3.0, and ended up making a flashcard app for people to learn vocabulary.

Another memorable piece of software we worked on together was an extension to NIBBLES, the qbasic snake game. We added new levels and superpowers such as diagonal snaking, and "teleportation."

The Quest for Big Air

Here is my first Indy Air, taken at night with my friend's cellphone camera. We were beginner jumpers, and found a spot near the rails that we practiced on into the evening. I plan to practice more, and hopefully some day I will have better pictures of myself getting big air on a snowboard.

Some Code (by no means the most {optimal / correct} solution)

class M {public static void main(String[] a){String s="class M {public static void main(String[] a){String s=$;java.io.PrintStream p=System.out;int t=s.indexOf('$');p.print(s.substring(0,t));char q=34;p.print(q);p.print(s);p.print(q);p.print(s.substring(t+1));}}";java.io.PrintStream p=System.out;int t=s.indexOf('$');p.print(s.substring(0,t));char q=34;p.print(q);p.print(s);p.print(q);p.print(s.substring(t+1));}}

A{A*B}B