Toby L. J. Howard is an Honorary Reader in the Department of Computer Science at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

in the UK, He was Director of undergraduate studies 2011–2019. He retired from the University in July 2020.

Education

Howard was educated at Birkenhead School, and then the

receiving a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

and a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast ...

degree in 1983 for work on the graphics facilities of the MU6 network.

Research

Howard's research interests are

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great deal ...

and virtual environments. as a member of the Advanced Interfaces Group (AIG)http://aig.cs.man.ac.uk and has supervised several doctoral students. Howard's research projects have included: *

Virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

as a rehabilitative technology for phantom limb experience, investigating using virtual environments for treating phantom limb pain in amputees. *

Augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory Modality (human–computer interaction), modalities, including visual, Hearing, auditory, hap ...

, with preliminary work on an interactive display for public engagement. * Virtual environments for psychology research. Telepresence and

telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

in immersive virtual reality; used immersive virtual environments to test for telepathic effects: * Augmented Reality Image Synthesis (ARIS): augmenting photographs with correctly illuminated objects in real time. * Virtual environments for crime scene investigation. We worked with

Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England. , Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 mem ...

on the REVEAL project, investigating reconstructing crime scenes using virtual environments with accurate global illumination. * VR for large-scale applications" (VRLSA) – concentrated on the development of industrial applications and resulted in the release of MAVERIK VR kernel.

Teaching

Howard taught on ''COMP27112'' ''Computer Graphics and Image Processing'' and ''COMP37111 Advanced Computer Graphics.'' He founded and led the annual ''UK Schools Computer Animation Competition'' from 2008 to 2018. From 1989 to 1998 he was joint editor of Britain's ''The Skeptic'' magazine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Toby Academics of the University of Manchester People associated with the Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester Living people Year of birth missing (living people)