Monthly Archives: June 2015

We are so happy to welcome a new undergraduate student – Samuel Cheng to our lab in summer. Let us hear what he said about the intern in our group.

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself? (Previous research/project experience, research interest and expertise)

My name is Samuel Cheng and I am entering my second year as an EE major with a concentration in electronics and optics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. As of now, I don’t have much experience in the EE field and I am hoping that by taking these courses in the Media Communication Lab I will gain more knowledge on what I wish to do with EE. I am also interested in the field of computer vision and communication. I believe that this lab will give me a thorough introduction into this subject. Outside of school my passion is the outdoors, especially hiking, camping, and cycling.

2.What was your first impression of USC and MCL?

My first impression of USC includes not only the beautiful architecture of this school but also the advanced facilities. At MCL the students there excel in their research. Jian Li was very hospitable and he showed me around the campus and inside EEB. The students in MCL are very friendly, approachable and diligent. I’m glad that I got the chance to work with them, thanks to Professor Kuo who gave me the opportunity to come to this school over the summer.

3.What is your further expectation of being an MCL member?

I hope that I will be able to contribute my own effort to MCL and also, by helping the PHD students with their research, I can move forward on my academic endeavor.

In Summer 2014, USC MCL and Pratt & Whitney Institute for Collaborative Engineering (PWICE) started a joint research project to build a remote collaboration system based on smart glasses. Mobile wearable devices have become popular nowadays. Smart glasses, among one of them, play an essential role in information capturing and visual enhancement. Particularly, in the sophisticated working environment for aircraft maintenance, workers have to retrieve and share information in real time with visual aids but may not have an easy access to a laptop or a tablet. In this project, we aim to develop a remote collaboration system based on smart glasses. With this remote collaboration system, each technician can use his/her smart glasses to communicate with experts/colleagues at a remote distance without interrupting the ongoing work.

In 2014, USC MCL has developed a prototype of remote collaboration system, live streaming app based on Google Glass. Video streaming system on wearable devices has demonstrated the potential influence when smart glasses were used in the plant. In 2015 and 2016, USC MCL and PWICE will continue to build the remote collaboration system, focusing on developing the Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) optimization for aircraft maintenance.