@MarkDunne

The LOK8 (locate) project is funded by Strand III and its goal is to create a new and innovative approach to human-computer interactions. With LOK8 a person will be able to engage in meaningful interaction with a computer interface in a much more natural and intuitive way than we are used to. A virtual character (Avatar) will be displayed in numerous locations depending on the user’s position and context. Users will be able to communicate with this virtual character through speech and gestural input/output, which will be processed and controlled by the dialog management component. This will allow “face-to-face” interactions with the LOK8 system. The LOK8 system will deliver content to the user in a variety of context-specific ways with the aim of tailoring content to suit the user’s needs. In addition to screens and projectors displaying the avatar, the user’s mobile device, as well as speakers within the environment, will be used to deliver focus-independent content. Ultimately the goal is to replace a human-computer interface with a human-“virtual human” interface. More info: LOK8.dit.ie

Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative (MLPSI) project funded the development of educational games with expertise from DIT's School of Computing, Learning Technology Team and School of Languages for the MLPSI. The game is to be used to supplement class-work and consolidate what has already been learned-including reading, aural comprehension and written responses. The approach used in this project is to use a series of mini-games linked by a common theme. Each mini-game maps to the curriculum. Languages being used are: Italian, Spanish, German and French.

Vivendi is one of Ireland’s largest game publishers. They publish such titles as World of Warcraft, Crash, F.E.A.R. and new titles include Time Shift and World in Conflict. The latter been what I spent all my time testing while with Vivendi. My particular role and the role of the office in which I worked was localization. I worked on all the western European language version of the game, i.e. Polish, Russian etc. I basically logged language and functionality issues, which were regression in all future builds. I’m proud to say the versions of W.i.C. my team and I worked on were 99.9% bug free and any remaining bugs were easily fixed through patches post release.

Information Mosaic (IM) is a global provider of advanced middle and back office solutions for the securities services industry. While placed there for the summer I spent allot of time analyzing the products and their new features. This was my 3rd year work placement. The main level at which I worked was mainly in acceptance testing area but also as part of the testing department I had very hands on experience at component testing, component integration testing and system testing. As part of my Acceptance testing I had to evaluate and test the demo/test products to make sure they were bug free which allowed the end-users or customers to decide whether or not to accept the product. I drafted many test cases to implement successful regression testing also. Acceptance testing also involved me trouble shooting many of the user interfaces to make sure they met with the end-users or customers requirements.

June 2003/04/05/06/07/08/09 - Smithwick's Cat Laughs Comedy Festival The Cat Laughs is a comedy festival held in Kilkenny City very June bank holiday weekend for the last 16 years, since 1994. The comedians are invited from all around the world, with plenty of homegrown talent too. The festival takes place in 15 plus venues, with shows every hour at the bigger venues. Some of the duties I do include Selling Tickets/Credit Card ticket Collection, Taking Tickets at the Door, Seating People, Tidy Up, and the Show Turn-Around.

DT228 - BSc (Hons) Computer Science in Computer Science

DT354 - BSc (Hons) Business Computing in Business Computing

TR071 - BSc (Hons) Common Entry Science in Science

Junior & Leaving Certs. in Secondary School