Recently, with members of NCSU’s Nonlinear Artificial Intelligence Lab, I completed a 3.5-year project as a subcontractor working on an industrial project. As an academic, this was a novel experience. Unlike most of my research, this work will not result in a journal article or conference presentation, although it might one day contribute to an industrial product.
Because I signed a Non Disclosure Agreement, I cannot discuss the project details. I can say the work included developing an app in the Swift programming language for the iPhone operating system iOS.
Towards an engaging and intuitive Graphical User Interface, I created virtual 3D buttons that cast virtual shadows, depending on the iPhone‘s physical orientation, due to a virtual light source directly above the phone. When touched, the buttons appear to depress (and click or vibrate the phone, depending on the user’s preferences). The hole in the cog-wheel button really works — if you touch the hole, the button will not depress — because a virtual hole in a virtual cog wheel is real!
Thanks, Mark! I enjoy reading your posts as well.