EDITOR’S NOTE: While several students at the UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) are busy developing OmegaDesk, made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation, two of those students are profiled in a recent article by Northwestern University journalism student Ashley Cullins. Cullins visited EVL the week of May 2, and despite it being finals week, students Dennis Chau and Alessandro Febretti made themselves available to talk with her. Her story not only describes the “futuristic” visualization display that EVL is developing, but touches on the students’ enthusiasm for the opportunities that EVL makes possible.

Not your usual desk job
by Ashley Cullins, Medill Reports Chicago, Northwestern University

May 10, 2011

The Electronic Visualization Laboratory at University of Illinois at Chicago, looks more like a warehouse than a 20th Century Fox studio, but the devices created there seem to be straight out of a Stephen Spielberg film.

OmegaDesk is a prime example. This tech-driven workspace uses active 3D, touchscreen, infrared motion capture and Microsoft Kinect technologies combined with a custom software system called OmegaLib that unites the individual elements, according to Dennis Chau and Alessandro Febretti, UIC graduate students at EVL.

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