About me

My name is Seth Horrigan. I am currently working towards a Masters degree in Computer Science specializing in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of California at Berkeley. I work with Dr. John Canny in the Berkeley Institute of Design.

I recently completed a prototype of my Masters project. The system, called Skynet, aims to support second language acquisition in elementary and high school children using computers and mobile devices. The project uses a speech-enabled artificially intelligent conversational agent to provide verbal interaction and targeted linguistic feedback.

I also recently completed a working version of a mobile speech recognition engine, called SphinxTiny, based on the CMU Sphinx-3.x engine.

At present, my main interests lie in Human-Computer Interaction - especially user-interface design - with secondary interests in ubiquitous computing and social interaction in massively multiplayer online games.

I graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science in May of 2006. As an undergraduate I worked in the Center for Experimental Research in Computer Systems (CERCS) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I worked in cyber-foraging with Dr. Phil Hutto and on the MediaBroker project with Dr. Umakishore Ramachandran.

 

Publications

MB++: An Integrated Architecture for Pervasive Computing and High-Performance Computing. Proceedings of the 13th IEEE International Conference on Embedded and Real-Time Computing Systems and Applications, 2007.

 

Recent Work

Skynet is a speech-enabled conversational agent to support second language acquistion. The initial prototype is complete and is available for download now. The full source will be available for download on June 1st.

SphinxTiny is a mobile speech recognition engine. The system is stable, but improvements are still on-going.

Theory and Practice of Tangible User Interfaces is a course taught in the School of Information. Here are some recent small projects I have done in the course:

• Inventing a Musical Instrument
• Simple Mechanics: Building a Cuckoo Clock
• Wallace the Angry Muffin
• Servo-driven Altoids Tank
• Basic Actuation using a DC Motor
• Photocells and Force Sensitive Resistors
• Potentiometers

In Maneesh Agrawala's course on Visualization in the school of computer science, I have begun exploring data visualization methods. I have created two computer visualizations - one implementing traditional data visualization methods and one exploring how to visualize large numbers of questionnaire responses (a topic not yet addressed elsewhere) - as well as experimenting with improving existing data visualizations:

• Visualizing and exploring multi-dimensional survey data
• Building new visualization software
• Experimenting with existing visualization software
• Print visualization deconstruction and redesign

Osmopet: the open-source mobile personal translator was a project I designed and completed in Spring of 2008 with Eric Brewer's cellphones as a computing platform course. It is a hand-held personal translator of the type the DARPA Transtac program is developing; however, Osmopet is entirely open-source. Here is the poster, the user-interface mockup, and a set of print media I made describing the project. The print media was printed on card-stock then laser cut and attached into folding pamphlet in the form of the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet that I was using for the demonstration platform.

For Coye Cheshire's course on Computer-Mediated Communications, I investigated social mores governing reciprocity in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, the World of Warcraft. With over 10 million active subscribers, this game exceeds many UN members in sheer populations. Many other factors make it an even more interesting research testbed, and I describe this and some findings in a paper I wrote at the conclusion of the course.

 

Extracurriculars

My hobbies are many and varied. Mostly I prefer activities that allow me to enjoy nature and stay healthy:

• Ultimate frisbee
• Swing dancing
• Hiking and backpacking
• Kayaking
• Snowboarding
• Rock climbing
• Windsurfing
• Bicycling
• Adventure

I also coordinate the weekly computer science graduate student association's weekly movie night, and I am a member of the computer science graduate student association's social committee as well as administering the Berkeley Institute of Design website.

 

Honors

Siebel Scholar, 2009
Briaerean Honor Society, Fall 2003 - Spring 2006
President's Undergraduate Research Award, Spring 2006
Graduated with Highest Honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Spring 2006