Thad Starner is the director of the Contextual Computing Group. In general, our research creates computational interfaces and agents for use in everyday mobile environments. We combine wearable and ubiquitous computing technologies with techniques from the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), pattern recognition, and human computer interaction (HCI). Recently, we have been designing [ assistive technology with the deaf community.] One of our main projects is [ CopyCat ], a game which uses American Sign Language recognition to help young deaf children acquire language skills. We continually develop new interfaces for mobile computing (and mobile phones) with an emphasis on gesture. Currently, we are exploring mobile interfaces that are fast to access, like wristwatches.
Our members are some of the oldest and most active supporters of the wearable computing academic community, helping to establish and contributing to the annual International Symposium on Wearable Computers, the IEEE Wearable Information Systems Technical Committee (TCWEAR), IEEE Pervasive Computing magazine, various workshops and mailing lists, and hardware and software resources for industry and research.
Recently, I've been
[interviewed for the Gartner Fellows program] which investigates my
view of the wearable computer as a helper in the user's everday life
and what has changed over the past 15 years. I've also recently given a Google Tech Talk ["Reading Your Mind: Interfaces for Wearable Computing"] which looks at our recent and upcoming research from a particular perspective suggested by one of my colleagues Beth Mynatt.
If you are a Georgia Tech graduate or undergraduate student interested in working with me, please review our publications and web pages to see what is interesting to you and send an ASCII resume to both me and the lead graduate students listed on the project.
The Mathematics Genealogy Project and other sites allow the generation of some extremely nerdy trivia. My 8-times great academic advisor was Ernst Weber (Weber's Law)! Ernst Weber -> Rudolf Lotze -> Carl Stumpf -> Herbert Langfeld -> Gordon Allport -> Hans-Lukas Teuber -> Whitman Richards -> Alex Pentland -> Thad Starner. There are some quite interesting folks in this list. For example, Carl Stumpf tested "Clever Hans," the horse that was supposed to be able to do math. Gordon Allport, famous in his own right for personality psychology, was advisor to Stanley Milgram, who demonstrated obedience to authority through the Milgram experiment and the surprisingly short average path length for social networks of people (think "six degrees of separation").
More silly stats: if you allow TV, my Erdös (4) + Bacon number (2) is at most 6. Paul Erdös -> Brendan McKay -> Whitman Richards -> Aaron Bobick -> Thad Starner. Kevin Bacon->Alan Alda (Rosie O'Donnell Show)->Thad Starner (Scientific American Frontiers). Just the sort of thing you want to know about someone at a party, right?