Projects

This page contains some summary information on the various projects I've worked on over the years.  At the moment it's just a listing but in the future I'll flesh it out with at least some detail on the more interesting ones.

1999-Current: Sony Computer Entertainment America R&D (what I can talk about)

• Developed single-pixel particle demonstration, covering physics based particle motion, use of alpha blending and optimized rendering of this type of particle using VU1 microcode on Playstation II
• Developed demonstration of high-speed texture loading (10 megabytes per frame) and presented the technique at Playstation II developers conference and several smaller gatherings.
• Developed application to do "zoom from orbit" going from a full-earth weather satellite photo down to a 1 meter resolution image of San Francisco in one continuous zoom.  This included development of a new (so far as I know) technique for mapping corrected or uncorrected satellite photos onto a globe with a minimum of distortion.
• Research on the consumer ease-of-use, economic and technical issues surrounding downloadable music and music subscription services.
• Early testing of a number of Playstation II code libraries in development.
• Participation in internal Sony groups dealing with networking and interoperation of Sony products.
• Support of misc Sony developers.
• One Patent pending

1997-1999: NEC Electronics

• PowerVR  evangelism/developer code-level technical support (provided support to nearly 100 development teams)
• Sega Dreamcast evangelism/developer technical support (SOA Sega Of America)
• Next generation product technical review & market planning
• Booth setup/teardown and manning booths at Comdex, E3, CGDC, ECTS (London).
• Videologic technical liaison
• Microsoft (Direct X, Fahrenheit, Sega Dragon) technical liaison
• Sega Naomi technical liaison (SEU Sega Enterprises US / Gameworks)
• Open Arcade Architecture Forum (OAAF) representative

1990-1997: Virtual World Entertainment (Worldwide Location Based Entertainment <LBE> Centers)

• Prototype hardware/software reliability improvement.  Increased reliability, speed and number of players in games to commercially viable levels.
• Second generation hardware/software/cockpit design (full custom 68020 and TI 34020 computer system and real-time operating system)
• Third generation (TESLA) hardware/software/cockpit design (PC/DOS based design using mostly off the shelf parts)
• Major coding & design work on Battletech multiplayer LBE Game for second generation hardware
• Major coding & design work on Red Planet multiplayer LBE Game for second generation hardware
• Developed 2d moving-map "game replay" software
• Developed 3d camera management system for "wide world of sports" style automated camera system used to watch games in progress or instant replay of games after the fact.
• Developed protocols and software for Sitelink which allowed multiplayer game play over ISDN or Internet.
• Re-worked rendering software for second generation hardware (coded out of house) to achieve a greater than 2X frame rate improvement.
• Co-Architect of Multi User Network Game Architecture (MUNGA) used in Third gen cockpits & games
• Primary Architect of MUNGA Observation-based rendering architecture
• Chief Software Engineer during projects to convert all the second generation game software over to the third generation TESLA hardware
• Software & Hardware quality assurance testing
• On site setup for several LBE sites (California, Chicago)
• Network protocol development for multiplayer games
• Coded and debugged DOS based TCP/IP implementation
• Designed virtual camera system used to film the majority of the in-game video for VWE pre-game instructional videos, marketing material and promotional tapes.  Acted as lead virtual camera operator during primary filming of pre-game videos.
• Worked with engineers from Division LTD to develop new visual effects on their PixelPlanes based programmable rendering system.
• Developed techniques for monitoring operation of game software/systems in real-time using logic analyzers.  Later extended the techniques to a software based system for off-line analysis of game system performance.  Both systems were used to tune the games to provide a reliable, steady framerate.
• Behind the scenes technical coordinator at several VWE media events, acted as director/choreographer of the technical team manning the VWE hardware while these events were being taped or shown on live TV.  Also did pre-show sweep to insure none of the VWE equipment interfered with the TV audio/video gear.  These included MTV sports, a VWE staged (by satellite) media event and a spot on Las Vegas local news.
• Worked on the "toaster" project for VWE and Hasbro, this was intended  to develop a home game console that used a head mounted display to play virtual reality games.  This included developing code for VWE's game contribution to the project, and participating extensively in design reviews of the toaster hardware/software design with the developers at Sarnoff Laboratories in New Jersey.  This project was canceled by Hasbro after about a year of development when it became clear that hardware was not going to meet the minimum performance targets.

1988-1989: Digital Interface Systems

• Whirlpool washing machine basket coating line control/inventory system.  Included an automated counting system and design of an industrial terminal that could operate in an abrasive dust environment.
• Oil refinery truck loading and inventory system
• Steelcase modular wall panel assembly line control system
• Random-store pull-through parts warehouse inventory and order picking system
• Man-machine interface system for IN/Tek steel mill
• Plate mill control system
• Blast furnace control system
• Design of NEMA qualified enclosures to place computers in hostile environments (factory floor/steel mill)
• System for automating a steel mill metallurgy lab.
• Managed effort to develop a reusable software engineering library, standardizing parts of previous projects to be used in future designs.

1975-current: Consulting and Kangaroo Koncepts, Inc.  (Most of these projects between 1979 and 1990)

• Apple II VT-100 terminal emulation package for Crowe Chizek accounting firm.
• CP/M text editing system
• Experimental "Dungeons & Dragons" style maze games on early Z-80 computers
• Digital logic simulator (PLATO lesson to teach basic circut design for university of Illinois)
• Procsy time sharing system training program (PLATO lesson for Purdue Pharmacy Dept)
• Plato multi-user on-line chat system
• Created several multiplayer test games on the PLATO system
• Beta tester for PLATO's first multiplayer team-based star-trek game (Empire)
• Consulted for Control Data on a project to make their PLATO computer aided education system available on personal computers
• Consulted for McGraw-Hill in New York and Boston data centers during setup of the BIX on-line system hardware and software.
• The Connection multi-user on-line system software, one of the first multi-user privately owned BBS systems in the U.S.
• A-Maze-ing, to the best of my knowledge it was the first commercial multiplayer 3d first person shooter game.  It was available on General Electric's GEnie system during the mid 1980's.
• Developed a prototype "smart terminal" system for the GEnie system that cached menus locally on computers used to access the service.  This greatly improved ease of use and speed for 300-1200 baud modems in use at the time.
• Built multiplayer game rooms for GEnie that included chat rooms, score ladders and support for Othello, Go-moku, checkers and chess.
• Developed first player matchmaking software used on GEnie to create game communities.
• Developed a simple music system that could be connected to a Plato terminal or CPM machine to allow it to play music.
• Developed hardware and software to allow early CPM machines to control BSR X-10 home control modules.

1979-1982: Carleton Financial Computations

• Distributed microprocessor based cross-platform data editing system
• High-speed database sorting system
• Automated database proofreading and batch editing system
• Automated typesetting software library

Other Projects

Produced regular music programs on Purdue campus radio network.
Assisted in production of auctions at local public TV stations including technical direction and camera operator.
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