Teaching Assistant 2019-2023 - AR/VR/MR, Machine Learning in Games, Mobile Games

During the academic year of 2019-2023, I was the teaching assistant for AR/VR/MR, Machine Learning in Games, and Mobile Games.

• For AR/VR/MR, I was the head TA and helped students with industry projects in different XR domain than I am used to (VR with my work on Arkology). I also collaborated with some students to start work on XROSS UI.
• For Machine Learning in Games, it was my first time really delving into Machine Learning. Before I changed my PhD area to XR User Interface, I was looking at game AI in general. However, that was along the line of finite state machine, behavior tree, flock behavior, Goal Oriented Action Planning, and the like. I collaborated with some students to explore spatial user interaction and machine learning as part of my work on XROSS UI.
• For Mobile Games, I transitioned from a teaching assistant to someone taking on the role of a professor, such as redesigning the course structure, creating lectures and supporting documents, and delivering lectures.

(Content below will be refactored and formatted)

About the Class

• CSCI 527 Machine Learning in Games
  • Instructor for the class was Michael Zyda, my PhD Advisor.
• CSCI 526 Mobile Games
  • Instructor for the class was Scott Easley.
• CSCI 538 AR/VR/MR
  • Instructors for the class were Vangelis Lympouridis and Michael Zyda.

My Role For CSCI 526

I revamped the class structure and syllabus for CSCI 526. I also created these new slides sets and delivered the lectures to help students

Lectures

• Game Genres & Innovation
• Designing Innovative and Intuitive Mechanics
• Game Jam
• On Significant Mechanics
• Design Matrices
• On Chess
• Themes, Twists, Tropes
• Marshmallow Challenge

Some of my proudest student games before class restructure:

• Fall 2022
  • 188 students in the class (90 on-site, 100 remote). 21 Teams. Average team size of 8.8 students.
  • Course Producer Tushar Sharma. Grader Srikar Mutnuri, Jasmine Sodhi, and Atush Bhalla.
  • Alter Ego
    • A puzzle platformer where the player controls two characters using the same control.
    • Game
    • Video
• Spring 2023
  • 87 students. 14 teams. Average team size of 6.2 students.
  • Course Producer Srikar Mutnuri. Grader Ling Gan, Nicole Lee, Edwin Leon, Srinivasan Kezhanatham Seshadri.
  • Aquarius Emblem by TNN
    • A chess-like tactical game with emphasis on unit synergies.
    • Game
    • Video
  • Lost Sheeps by Team Lost Sheep
    • A tower defense game with pattern matching and push-box (sokoban) mechanic.
    • Game
    • Video
  • Hexagon Adventure by Team Hexagon
    • A 2d Platformer with gravity-based power-ups.
    • (Game is Down)
    • Video

Some of my proudest student games after Class Restructure and new lectures on innovations

• Fall 2023
  • Course Producer Junmeng Xu, Datt Patel. Grader Parth Kotak, Lingke Meng, Yiyuan Gao, Mehvish Akhtar.
  • 85 students. 15 teams. Average team size of 5.6 students.
    • Intruder’s Insight by Team Backleft
      • Traverse levels in a 3D-platformer game by hacking cameras to shift to a second-person perspectives and benefit from camera’s special abilities.
      • Game
      • Video
    • Twistopia by Five Guys
      • A 3D puzzle platformer where the world changes from top-down view or side view.
      • Game
      • Video
    • Hue Hustle by Hue Hustlers
      • Master the art of color change as you leap and sprint through this platformer featuring different color dimensions.
      • Game
      • Video

For CSCI 527:

Aside from being a TA for the Machine Learning in Game Class, I also collaborated with master students in the class with my work on Spatial User Interfaces. In one semester, I collaborated and mentored 3 teams, working on Natural Language Processing, Spatial User Interaction, and Computer Vision, leading to 7 publications.

VES X NLP 2021 Fall Final Demo - Turkey Edition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O0-ejG8wg0

Virtual Equipment System: Toward Peripersonal Equipment Slots with Machine Learning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxZ52EbNGOk

Toward Predicting User Waist Location from VR Headset and Controllers Through Machine Learning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YODJRvhy8zY

Toward Using Machine Learning Based Motion Gesture for 3D Text Input https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIc8kDsGu6M

Virtual Equipment System: Toward Peripersonal Equipment Slots with Machine Learning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxZ52EbNGOk

My Role For CSCi 538:

USC Games AR VR XR Spring 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca8RPhNkTdo

• Breathing VR with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
• Climate Change Project with Natural History Museum
• CRASH Competitive Robots Against Super Humans
• Security Visualization in AR with Symantec Security
• HoloASL
• Forest Fire Experience - Indomitable https://youtu.be/Ca8RPhNkTdo?t=5347
• AR in VR - XROSS UI https://youtu.be/Ca8RPhNkTdo?t=5355 Full Walkthrough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9er9S0vAV1E

USC Games Fall 2019 https://youtu.be/Ancma76HZno

• vr breathing
• meditation with positron project tranquil
• team CHLA
• positron odyssey

Interfacing with Sensory Options Using a Virtual Equipment System https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxcpDdt3TkY

Punch Typing: Alternative Method for Text Entry in Virtual Reality https://youtu.be/J3_9s-UFfC0

CSCI538 Final Walkthrough Video for XROSS UI https://youtu.be/9er9S0vAV1E