Max Collins

My name is Max Collins and I am a recent graduate (Spring '17) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Psychology and minor in Informatics. I will begin a PhD program at the University of California at Irvine in the Fall, studying Informatics. I am participating in the DREU program at Carnegie Mellon University working on the SCIPR project for the summer of 2017. I was given the opportunity to work in the Articulab in the department of Computer Science. My academic interests lie on the relationship between humans and technology, with an emphasis on how augmented and virtual reality can enhance our lives. Check out my weekly experience...

The Articulab's SCIPR project aims to understand how to foster curiosity in students by observing them in small group settings. This summer, I will take part in the development of an embodied conversational agent (ECA), in our study an intelligent virtual child, to engage in a collaborative tabletop game, and elicit curiosity during the game play. The virtual child’s behavior will be integrated as part of a WoZ system, which allows the above behaviors in a semi-automated matter. To read more on SCIPR, click here.