Network Investigator: Sidney Fels

Contact Information

University of British Columbia Block Captain

• Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Director of MAGIC
• mailto:[email protected]
• http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~ssfels
• http://hct.ece.ubc.ca
• http://www.magic.ubc.ca

GRAND Projects

• Enhanced Virtual Presence and Performance
• Shared Displays
• Next Generation Information Appliances
• Human-Centred Technologies For Sustainable Living

Biography

Sid has been in the department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of British Columbia since 1998. Sid received his Ph. D. and M.Sc. in Computer Science at the University of Toronto in 1994 and 1990 respectively. He received his B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Waterloo in 1988. He was recognized as a Distinguished University Scholar at UBC from 2004. He was a visiting researcher at ATR Media Integration & Communications Research Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan from 1996 to 1997. He also worked at Virtual Technologies Inc. in Palo Alto, CA developing the GesturePlus™ system and the CyberServer™ in 1995. He is known for his work in human-computer interaction, biomechanical modeling, neural networks, intelligent agents, new interfaces for musical expression and interactive arts with over 100 scholarly publications and exhibitions. Some of his research projects include: Glove-TalkII; Glove-Talk; Iamascope; Artisynth, a biomechanical modeling and simulation toolkit; and MyView, a context-aware video experience environment; and OpenVL/VU, a video processing environment. Using the Glove-TalkII system a person could speak with their hands. The device was built to be a virtual artificial vocal tract. The person using the system wore special gloves and used a foot pedal. These devices controlled a model of a vocal tract so that a person could "play" speech much as a musician plays music. The Iamascope is an interactive artwork which explores the relationship between people and machines. In Iamascope the participant takes the place of the coloured piece of glass inside the kaleidoscope. The participant’s movements cause a cascade of imagery and music to engulf them. Some of his other artwork include: Flow, the Forklift Ballet, Video Cubism, PlesioPhone and Waking Dream. His research on musical interfaces includes Tooka (a two-person flute), MetaMuse (metaphor based interface for granular synthesis), Tongue’n Groove (a tongue based music controller using ultrasound) and 2 Hearts Musical system (uses heartbeats of two people to navigate in a soundscape). Sid is current the Director of the Media and Graphics Interdisciplinary Centre (MAGIC).