Dr. Cat Ball Home

About Me

Apr 01, 20254 min read

Education

Education

Programmer

Qualifications
  • Languages: C#, Python, SQL, HTML, CSS, JS
  • Major Libraries: pandas, Seaborn, Google Speech-to-Text, Oculus/Meta VR (Virtual Reality), SteamVR, OpenXR, Apple iOS/iPadOS AR (Augmented Reality), Microsoft Kinect, Fitbit
  • Game Engine: Unity3D
  • Platforms: PC, Android, iOS, VR, MR, and AR
  • Source Control: Git
Skills

  • Implemented modular design in Virtual Fitness Buddy project and utilized Unity3D’s ease of cross-platform deployment to support PC, iOS/iPadOS, and Virtual Reality (Meta Quest) builds.
  • Translated child feedback into actionable design updates to gameplay mechanics that eliminated negative feedback.
  • Implemented virtual reality (VR) tour of 3D modeled heart using Unity3D that competed at the 2016 IEEEVR Conference1.
  • Iterated bi weekly for Virtual Fitness Buddy on 4 separate departments’ requirements that both entertained children and supported physical activity gameplay goals.
  • Integrated Children’s Museum of Atlanta deployment requirements into Virtual STEM Buddy mixed reality exhibit that had no reported physical incidents over 5 year life span2.
  • Optimized input system to accommodate real-world interference and physical safety constraints for elementary school lunchroom and children’s museum exhibit environments.
  • Prototyped a mixed reality keyboard over 2 months for Virtual Fitness Buddy that succeeded with adults but was unintuitive for children. This led to a design change in the overall project, incorporating a touchscreen, which was intuitive for children to use.

Game Designer

Skills
  • Designed child intuitive, motion-detection interaction algorithm for using real-world motion as a primary input system used by over 400 children (prior to the release of the consumer Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in 2015).
  • Designed a responsive and intuitive jetpack flight system in virtual reality (VR) that resulted in being hired by the Virtual Experiences Lab at the University of Georgia.
  • Expanded the boundaries of a virtual reality (VR) guided heart tour to give an audience-focused, exploratory experience with minimal navigation friction that improved accessibility3.
  • Designed and implemented an engaging physical activity improvement program in collaboration with psychology, kinesiology, engineering, and statistics departments
  • Designed a virtual reality (VR) exploratory data analysis (EDA) tool4 using Unity3D to simplify understanding of heart study3 interactions.
  • Designed a 3D trophy model set that rewarded child fitness goals in the Virtual Fitness Buddy system.

Development Team Lead

Skills
  • Realized the Virtual Buddy systems by synthesizing and implementing the needs of the entire spectrum of stakeholders from child players, their parents, and deployment site staff like CMOA, to supporting UGA staff of psychologists, statisticians, kinesiologists, and engineers to turn a proof of concept into fully realized applications played by 60,000 children over 5 years
  • Architected the Virtual STEM Buddy experience from conception to implementation which resulted in a 5 year exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Atlanta2 played by approximately 60,000 children.
  • Orchestrated the afterschool Virtual Fitness Buddy project that launched to over 300 children across 12 sites and ran 6 months5.
  • Created VFB reference architecture to reduce VFB iteration development time for junior programmers

Data Engineer

Skills
  • Designed ETL process to handle virtual buddy player loading under 3 seconds to retain child attention during start up
  • Analyzed initial VSB deployment mechanics at CMOA and recommended upgrade resulted in 58% increase (88.3 / 139.8) in engagement with an approximate 14,000 exhibit visitors per year
  • Created VFB data dictionary reducing comprehension time by 14 hours during impact and success analysis of VFB

Footnotes

  1. Ball, Catherine, and Kyle Johnsen. “First-Person VR Design for Cardiac Anatomy Education.” ↩

  2. Ball, Catherine, Sun Joo Ahn, and Kyle Johnsen. “Design and field study of motion-based informal learning games for a children’s museum.” 2019 IEEE 5th workshop on everyday virtual reality (WEVR). IEEE, 2019. ↩ ↩2

  3. Ball, Catherine, and Kyle Johnsen. “An accessible platform for everyday educational virtual reality.” 2016 IEEE 2nd Workshop on Everyday Virtual Reality (WEVR). IEEE, 2016. ↩ ↩2

  4. Ball, Catherine, and Kyle Johnsen. “Filtering world-in-miniature: visual analytics for immersive virtual experiences.” Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on Spatial User Interaction. 2017. ↩

  5. Ball, Catherine, et al. “Scaling the virtual fitness buddy ecosystem as a school-based physical activity intervention for children.” IEEE computer graphics and applications 42.1 (2021): 105-115. ↩