Saturday, November 29, 2014

GIS Day 2014 - Esri Director of Software Products Clint Brown Visits the SRL

Clint Brown, the Director of Product Engineering for Esri, a company that is a leading innovator in developing geographic information systems (GIS), visited Dr. Tracy Hammond's Sketch Recognition Lab on Tuesday, November 18, during the three-day Texas A&M University GIS Day 2014 event organized by Dr. Daniel Goldberg, Assistant Professor of Geography. 

Brown, who received his Master's in Statistics and Computer Science from Texas A&M in 1978, was a distinguished guest at GIS Day and spent an hour at the SRL learning about the lab's innovative yet practical research and projects.

Miriam Olivares, the GIS Coordinator for Texas A&M University, noted that she "personally enjoyed witnessing how Clint Brown, who has seen it all, got very impressed with the SRL work and immediately opened the door for collaboration."

SRL member David Turner demonstrated Mechanix and CourseSketch for Brown, exhibiting each program's sketch recognition capabilities as developed in the lab. Raniero Lara-Garduño of the SRL demonstrated the SmartStrokes project for Brown, which computerizes cognitive psychology tests and analyzes the patients' sketches. Lara-Garduño noted that Brown helped him recognize that "sketch analysis in this domain had potential to uncover new and interesting information about a patient's cognitive abilities."

"It is always inspiring to see someone as esteemed as Clint Brown react positively with our projects!" says Lara-Garduño.

Vijay Rajanna of the SRL demonstrated Step Up Life, a program that suggests contextually suitable exercise via sending information from a watch to the user's phone, by having Brown himself use the system while discussing its potential. Brown noticed how the program integrates information from various contexts when making its decisions, and shared his ideas on how this system can be further extended to make smart decisions using geospatial information.

Rajanna states, "It was our privilege to demo and discuss on the various contemporary research topics that we conduct at SRL with Clint Brown. He contrasted our work at the SRL with conventional research conducted at other labs, and he clearly saw the relevance and applicability of our work in solving practical real world problems."

Jaideep Ray of the SRL found that Brown's ideas on the various applications of sketch recognition in areas such as indoor mapping and path planning could be new areas of research in the SRL. Stephanie Valentine, a senior SRL research member, felt Brown offered a unique and invaluable perspective on the applicability of SRL research and how it might grow in the future. 

"It was energizing to see his excitement at our projects and results," Valentine noted.

Olivares, TAMU's GIS Coordinator, summed up her experience with Brown at the SRL by stating: "The sense of ownership and passion each SRL developer transmitted while showcasing their latest invention to Clint Brown is unparalleled and, I guess, one of the secrets of this group’s continuous success."

Brown noted he was overwhelmed by the people and great work he saw at the SRL and TAMU GIS Day.




Dr. Tracy Hammond and SRL members demonstrating the lightness of the components of the HaptiMoto vest for Esri's Clint Brown.



Vijay Rajanna demonstrating the Step Up Life program, with Clint Brown wearing a watch sending contextual exercise recommendations to a smart phone.

 
Jess Gantt can be contacted at jessicalgantt@gmail.com

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