Current Work

The majority of my time is dedicated to my PhD thesis entitled "On the Design and Deployment of Synchronous, Simulation-Based Multi-User Learning Environments".

At the moment I am focussing my efforts on examining the ways in which computer game technologies can be used to build computer learning environments, with the intention of developing an environment to help students develop archaeological fieldwork techniques. In addition to exploring commercial offerings, I am also keen to explore the tools offered by the open source community. Unlike commercial technologies, whose use is often governed by strict licensing agreements, the open source community generally has licensing terms that are more suitable to the distribution model of most learning environments.

My thesis has developed through my involvement with the Lava project, which aims to develop simulations of the processes one must undertaken in order to secure funding for, plan, undertake and report an archaeological fieldwork expedition. As part of a larger learning environment, my work will help to power web-delivered virtual reality simulations of archaeological sites, thus allowing students to develop their fieldwork techniques by interacting with the virtual environment presented to them. For further details about the Lava project, please visit the project homepage.

In addition to Lava, I am also involved in a project with Thomas Sturgeon, the aim of which is to build a network backend to the jPCT Java 3D engine. Not only will this provide jPCT with a fuller set of features, but it will also directly contribute to both the Lava project and also Thomas' PhD work. I have also written a tutorial describing how to convert Autodesk® Autocad® drawings into a format that jPCT can read.