Browsing by Subject "computer science"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Indigenous Language Revitalization using Virtual Reality
    (2021-05-12) Werner, Colton
    Working within the framework of the Indigenous Futures project, a collaborative research project between the University of Minnesota and three local Indigenous communities, this thesis explores the potential of using VR environments to facilitate Indigenous language revitalization and trans-Indigenous exchange, specifically on the topic of star knowledge and stories. I implemented a virtual night sky filled with Micronesian, Ojibwe and Dakota constellations. These constellations carry rich cultural histories, and their stories have been passed down through generations within each community, making them an ideal topic for trans-Indigenous exchange. 3D text can be incorporated into the environment to label the constellations directly in the virtual sky; however, this raises the question of how the constellations' written names should be represented. To understand this important design choice, I developed a series of visual prototypes, both in English and the respective Indigenous languages incorporating various scripts and symbols to depict each name. The prototypes also explore where and when to display these labels (i.e., side-by-side, overlapping, changing over time). In this way, the project serves as a case study of some of the many options available to Indigenous communities for representing written forms of language in VR. Early feedback from collaborating Indigenous scholars supports the potential of VR environments in this style to open the door to further conversations about the importance of language in Indigenous culture and suggests that using "morphable 3D labels" (those that change over time to depict multiple names for the same constellation) may provide a useful graphical tool for facilitating these conversations.
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    Lorrie Faith Cranor Oral History
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 2023-09) Charles Babbage Institute, Univ. of Minnesota
    This oral history interview is sponsored by and a part of NSF 2202484 “Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy,” at the Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota. At the start of the interview, Professor Lorrie Faith Cranor discusses early interests and studies in computer science and engineering & public policy at Washington University in St. Louis. This includes her dissertation, a pioneering work on computer voting systems. She then relates her work on privacy, security, and policy at AT&T laboratories following her D.Sc. for about a half dozen years and then transitioning to leave the lab to become a professor of Computer Science and of Engineering & Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Cranor talks about launching an event and co-editing an influential edited volume, that led to her founding and early General Chair leadership of Symposium on User Privacy and Security (SOUPS). With a focus on this area, she also launched a research lab, the CyLab Usable Privacy and Security (CUPS) Laboratory and educational program with NSF support. This unique focus is not matched anywhere globally and Cranor and her team’s work have been central to bringing together researchers and understanding at the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer security and privacy. She also discusses her evolving research in many areas including but not limited to phishing, cyber trust indicators, passwords, etc., as well as her year as Chief Technologist at the US Federal Trade Commission. Cranor, a master quilter, also relates how engineering quilts involve overlapping engineering principles with her design work in computer science.
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    Oral History Interview with Vipin Kumar
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 2025-03-05) Kumar , Vipin
    This interview was conducted by CBI for CS&E growing out of the 50th Anniversary of the University of Minnesota Computer Science Department (now Computer Science and Engineering, CS&E). The interview begins with a brief discussion of educational background and Prof. Kumar’s early career at the University of Texas, Austin, while the bulk of the interview is on his time as a professor, now a Regents Prof. and William C. Norris Chair of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Prof. Kumar discusses his research, collaborations, leadership roles (Director of the Army HPC SCI at UMN, Dept. Chair of CS, etc.)—focusing on his research in pattern recognition, AI, machine learning, and data science. Increasingly at UMN (and globally), his work has pioneered in partnering with other researchers to advance scientific discovery and help to better understand and address societal problems in areas ranging from climate science, water resources to bio-medical research. He also discusses the importance and rewards of working with talented students throughout his career and seeing and helping them grow, many of them to prosper at the top of their fields.
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    Oral history interview with Susan Landau
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 2024-01-30) Landau, Susan
    This oral history interview is sponsored by NSF 2202484 “Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy,” at the Charles Babbage Institute. Professor Susan Landau begins with her experience at Bronx Science High School, and its strong influence on her. She then moves on to her undergraduate days at Princeton. She relates how she shifted from Math to Computer Science during her graduate studies at Cornell and then went on to MIT to earn her Ph.D. in Theoretical Computer Science. Landau comments on the gendered environments and sexism at these schools. It is a theme in her later discussing her motivation for founding the ResearcHers email list. Landau became an Assistant Professor of Computer Science within the Math Department at Wesleyan. She discusses the evolution of her research during her early years as an academic—this includes the Landau’s Algorithm for “de-nesting” radicals. Landau provides context for her thought about mathematical applications to cryptography, the state of art of privacy with regard to cryptography in the mid-1970s, the book Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption co-authored with Whitfield Diffie, and her book People Count. Landau then turns to her years at Sun Microsystems in the 1990s, including the establishment of the principles for Digital Rights Management and DRM Project DReaM. Landau discusses her transition to Radcliffe Institute, Google, Worcester Polytech, and finally, her long tenure and current home at Tufts University. This includes her elaborating on founding a Master’s Program in Cybersecurity and Public Policy there. She highlights recollections of her encounter with famed physicist Joseph Rotblat and his influence on her life. She also relates her longtime collaboration with Steve Bellovin and Matt Blaze at the intersection of tech, security and privacy, policy, and law. She contextualizes her testimony before Congress with the Apple 2015, 2016 (Encryption Dispute—should Apple be forced to unlock its encryption to authorities/FBI) case. And she also comments on a variety of issues including state-sponsored hacking capabilities, the great importance of communicating with broader audiences, and her style and approach in mentoring graduate students.
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    Rebecca Herold Oral History
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 2023-09) Charles Babbage Institute, Univ. of Minnesota
    This oral history interview is sponsored by and a part of NSF 2202484 “Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy,” at the Charles Babbage Institute. Security and privacy pioneer Rebecca Herold discusses her education. The bulk of the oral history interview focuses on the various positions she had, the professional organizations she has been a part of, and the skills, knowledge, and leadership she has provided in privacy and security. This includes discussion of the importance of policies and the human factor to security systems. This includes her influential time at Principal Financial Group (creating a pioneering Change Control System, Anti-Malware Program and Corporate Dial-In Access solution), at other firms, and starting and developing her consultancy and Software as a Service company—and trademarking “Privacy Professor.” Herold was a long-time adjunct professor teaching at Norwich University Masters program). She also discusses her early involvement with HIPAA regulations, developing expertise, and co-authoring an important and widely read textbook on the topic, as well as influential work on standards at NIST.