Thomas E. Horton
Graduate Research Assistant
Room 2231/2235
Engineering Building II
Centennial Campus
NC State University
tehorton@ncsu.edu

I'm a graduate student in the computer science department at North Carolina State University, currently working towards a Ph.D. under the direction of Robert St. Amant. My research focuses on issues in computer science related to the use of tools. Applications in this area include the creation of robotic agents capable of reasoning about and using simple tools and the design of computer interfaces that build upon the human facility for tool use. Additionally, this research may have implications for fields outside of computer science, including ecological psychology and the study of animal behavior (Dr. St. Amant and I just had an article appear in the journal Animal Behaviour).

Research
Under the direction of Robert St. Amant, whose site includes more information about these and other related projects.

Artificial tool using agents &
Formalization of visual affordances
Tool use in direct manipulation user interfaces:
Most graphical user interfaces employ some form of direct manipulation in their design. Often however, the extent of the direct manipulation is limited; clicking on a button may simulate the action of pressing a physical button, but the action performed by the interface when the button is pushed may by highly abstract (e.g. causing a dialog box to disappear). We designed a set of programs that make more extensive use of metaphors based on the way humans interact with tools in the real world.

Publications

Education

Employment Academic Interests Other Interests