Research Interests for Tony Scarlatos

News

Eastern Suffolk BOCES will be field-testing two applications in January 2006, SmartStep and WriteOn!, that drill math and language skills.

The Cleary School for the Deaf will be field-testing iSign, to help Deaf students learn to read, starting in January 2006 also.


Papers

Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges (2005)

Journal of Educational Technology Systems (2005)

IASTED International Conference on Computer Graphics and Imaging (2003)

My research interests include computer-based training, distance learning, multimedia, computer-human interaction, and multimodal interfaces. With my combined background in the visual arts, education, and computer science, these are synergistic pursuits. The unifying goal of my research is to facilitate faster comprehension and longer retention for learners using technology.

This work has been supported through a number of grants: Long Island Lighting Company R&D Initiative (1993 & 1994), New York State Department of Education (1997), and a Department of Commerce TIIAP grant (1998). My research is currently being supported by a National Science Foundation grant, "CRCD: Innovative Approaches to Computer-Human Interfaces" (2002 - 2006).

For the CRCD grant, I am investigating innovative approaches to computer-human interaction such as speech recognition, computer vision, and sensor technology. As part of this, I am developing novel applications that apply these technologies to problems in education. For example, I am working with the Cleary School for the Deaf to develop an application that will help hearing-impaired children learn to read.

Along with this research, I developed a new undergraduate computer science course that I began teaching in fall 2003. The students are given the opportunity to apply these technologies by collaborating with education students in a course taught in Technology and Society the following semester.

The applications they've developed will be installed in a number of public facilities, including Stony Brook's Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, the New York Hall of Science, and the Goudreau Museum of Mathematics. There, students will have the opportunity to participate in ongoing research by evaluating the efficacy of their educational applications.

To help facilitate distribution of my findings, I am co-authoring a new textbook, with supplementary materials available online, that will enable others to teach these courses at their institutions.


Projects

Check out iSign, a speech recognition application that helps deaf students learn to read


Find out about FingerSpell, a physical computing interface that translates ASL gestures into synthesized speech


WriteOn! is a handwriting recognition application to drill and assess spelling and penmanship skills


Take a look at SmartStep, a physical computing interface to drill and assess basic math skills


Read about the Tower of Hanoi, a computer vision application to teach advanced math concepts

 


White Papers

Accessibility Applications

Math Applications