David W. Sprague
- Courses5
- Reviews27
- School: Northeastern University
- Campus:
- Department: Computer Science
- Email address: Join to see
- Phone: Join to see
-
Location:
360 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA - 02115 - Dates at Northeastern University: November 2015 - December 2019
- Office Hours: Join to see
N/A
Would take again: Yes
For Credit: Yes
1
0
Mandatory
Awesome
Prof. Sprague is very enthusiastic, but he gives lots of homework. He's really awesome though. I highly recommend taking this class.
N/A
Would take again: No
For Credit: Yes
1
1
Mandatory
Average
Prof. Sprague is a harsh grader.
N/A
Would take again: Yes
For Credit: Yes
0
0
Mandatory
Awesome
Professor Sprague made our boring class an entertaining one. His lectures are great.
Biography
Northeastern University - Computer Science
Instructor at Carleton University
Higher Education
David
Sprague
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
I completed my PhD in July 2011 and I'm currently lecturing full time at Northeastern University. Prior to this, I was a software Engineer at Google and a user interface and visualization designer in a computer aided engineering software company.
Specialties: casual information visualization; motion data encoding, InfoVis aesthetics; user interface design; virtual reality perceptual factors; pedagogical gaming.
Experience
University of Victoria
Doctoral Candidate
My doctoral research examined Information Visualizations used in "casual" or non-work contexts, and the reasons such systems are used.
Northeastern University
Lecturer
I taught CS 1100 (Computer Science and its applications), CS 1800 (Discrete Structures), CS 2800 (Logic and Computation, CS 5340 (Grad HCI), IS 4300 (HCI) and DS 4200 (Information Visualization)
Google
Software Engineer
David worked at Google as a Software Engineer
CD-adapco
User Interface Engineer
I was a user-interface designer and developer (Java / C++) for a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) scientific visualization company. Interface mockups were created using Balsamiq.
I spearheaded the design and implementation of a Simulation Assistant (HTML/Java) which enables customers to define their own simulation setup workflow. This streamlines the complex setup process, and permits custom terminology. I also gathered Simulation Assistant requirements via interviews and an analysis of enhancement requests.
My development work predominately involved the Java client. The UX team used a modified Agile development approach and involved unit testing via JUnit and Mockito. Peer code reviews were conducted using Crucible.Carleton University
Computer Science Instructor
I'm a full time teaching faculty member at Carleton's School of Information Technology where I teach introductory programming classes. Essentially, I am doing the same thing as I did at Northeastern except 1) I'm north and 2) I speak more French. It's great to be back in Canada.
Education
University of Victoria
PhD
Computer Science
University of Victoria
Doctoral Candidate
My doctoral research examined Information Visualizations used in "casual" or non-work contexts, and the reasons such systems are used.Queen's University
BSc
Computer Science
The University of British Columbia
MSc
Computer Science
Publications
Individual realities: customizing aesthetics in shared immersive virtual environments
Computational Aesthetics / Eurographics
An exploration on the unique aesthetic customization possibilities associated with virtual reality systems.
Individual realities: customizing aesthetics in shared immersive virtual environments
Computational Aesthetics / Eurographics
An exploration on the unique aesthetic customization possibilities associated with virtual reality systems.
Motivation and procrastination: methods for evaluating pragmatic casual information visualizations
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
A opinion paper discussing the unique research approaches required for studying casual Information Visualizaitons.
Individual realities: customizing aesthetics in shared immersive virtual environments
Computational Aesthetics / Eurographics
An exploration on the unique aesthetic customization possibilities associated with virtual reality systems.
Motivation and procrastination: methods for evaluating pragmatic casual information visualizations
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
A opinion paper discussing the unique research approaches required for studying casual Information Visualizaitons.
The importance of accurate VR head registration on skilled motor performance
Graphics Interface
An examination of the effects head calibration accuracy on the performance of a Fitts' tapping task performed in a virtual environment. Results indicate that sensory-motor adaptation occurs in virtual environments and users can quickly adapt to consistent calibration errors with minimal performance costs.
Individual realities: customizing aesthetics in shared immersive virtual environments
Computational Aesthetics / Eurographics
An exploration on the unique aesthetic customization possibilities associated with virtual reality systems.
Motivation and procrastination: methods for evaluating pragmatic casual information visualizations
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
A opinion paper discussing the unique research approaches required for studying casual Information Visualizaitons.
The importance of accurate VR head registration on skilled motor performance
Graphics Interface
An examination of the effects head calibration accuracy on the performance of a Fitts' tapping task performed in a virtual environment. Results indicate that sensory-motor adaptation occurs in virtual environments and users can quickly adapt to consistent calibration errors with minimal performance costs.
Exploring how and why people use visualizations in casual contexts: Modeling user goals and regulated motivations
Information Visualization
This paper describes a grounded theory examination of how people encounter and use abstract representations of data in their non-work life. Results led to the Promoter-Inhibitor Motivation Model which helps explain and predict how casual visualizations are used.
Individual realities: customizing aesthetics in shared immersive virtual environments
Computational Aesthetics / Eurographics
An exploration on the unique aesthetic customization possibilities associated with virtual reality systems.
Motivation and procrastination: methods for evaluating pragmatic casual information visualizations
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
A opinion paper discussing the unique research approaches required for studying casual Information Visualizaitons.
The importance of accurate VR head registration on skilled motor performance
Graphics Interface
An examination of the effects head calibration accuracy on the performance of a Fitts' tapping task performed in a virtual environment. Results indicate that sensory-motor adaptation occurs in virtual environments and users can quickly adapt to consistent calibration errors with minimal performance costs.
Exploring how and why people use visualizations in casual contexts: Modeling user goals and regulated motivations
Information Visualization
This paper describes a grounded theory examination of how people encounter and use abstract representations of data in their non-work life. Results led to the Promoter-Inhibitor Motivation Model which helps explain and predict how casual visualizations are used.
Spatialization Design: Comparing Points and Landscapes
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
A controlled study exploring the use of point densities and information landscapes on a data estimation task.
Individual realities: customizing aesthetics in shared immersive virtual environments
Computational Aesthetics / Eurographics
An exploration on the unique aesthetic customization possibilities associated with virtual reality systems.
Motivation and procrastination: methods for evaluating pragmatic casual information visualizations
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
A opinion paper discussing the unique research approaches required for studying casual Information Visualizaitons.
The importance of accurate VR head registration on skilled motor performance
Graphics Interface
An examination of the effects head calibration accuracy on the performance of a Fitts' tapping task performed in a virtual environment. Results indicate that sensory-motor adaptation occurs in virtual environments and users can quickly adapt to consistent calibration errors with minimal performance costs.
Exploring how and why people use visualizations in casual contexts: Modeling user goals and regulated motivations
Information Visualization
This paper describes a grounded theory examination of how people encounter and use abstract representations of data in their non-work life. Results led to the Promoter-Inhibitor Motivation Model which helps explain and predict how casual visualizations are used.
Spatialization Design: Comparing Points and Landscapes
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
A controlled study exploring the use of point densities and information landscapes on a data estimation task.
Music selection using the PartyVote democratic jukebox
Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI) / ACM
This paper describes a novel collaborative music visualization which uses voting to minimize the amount of required user activity while maximizing the music's group appeal.
Individual realities: customizing aesthetics in shared immersive virtual environments
Computational Aesthetics / Eurographics
An exploration on the unique aesthetic customization possibilities associated with virtual reality systems.
Motivation and procrastination: methods for evaluating pragmatic casual information visualizations
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
A opinion paper discussing the unique research approaches required for studying casual Information Visualizaitons.
The importance of accurate VR head registration on skilled motor performance
Graphics Interface
An examination of the effects head calibration accuracy on the performance of a Fitts' tapping task performed in a virtual environment. Results indicate that sensory-motor adaptation occurs in virtual environments and users can quickly adapt to consistent calibration errors with minimal performance costs.
Exploring how and why people use visualizations in casual contexts: Modeling user goals and regulated motivations
Information Visualization
This paper describes a grounded theory examination of how people encounter and use abstract representations of data in their non-work life. Results led to the Promoter-Inhibitor Motivation Model which helps explain and predict how casual visualizations are used.
Spatialization Design: Comparing Points and Landscapes
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
A controlled study exploring the use of point densities and information landscapes on a data estimation task.
Music selection using the PartyVote democratic jukebox
Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI) / ACM
This paper describes a novel collaborative music visualization which uses voting to minimize the amount of required user activity while maximizing the music's group appeal.
How Computer Simulations Can Assist Model Generation In Students: Providing an Adaptable Structure to Guide Student Learning
ED-MEDIA
This paper describes an educational chemistry simulation used to teach Le Chatelier's Principle and how visual analogies can aid students in generating appropriate mental models.
