▼ This thesis examines the possibility of automatically evaluating a visual hierarchy in a graphic design. It proposes a method of quantifying the diverse research influencing design with the goal of creating a concrete saliency map to determine the distribution of attention and hierarchy in a composition. A saliency map is a grayscale representation of an image where the brightness values in each area represent the visual attention drawn by that area. It begins with background on the different fields and theories that are utilized in graphic design, then outlines an initial set of characteristics that may be quantified and an algorithmic structure for aggregating them. A manual study of an existing poster example is presented to provide proof of concept, followed by possible situations where this technique may be applied in practice. Advisors/Committee Members: Maletic, Jonathan.

▼ BioMedTech Virtual Clinic is a collaborative effort between Kent State University, The University of Florida, and The Great Lakes Science Center to develop a virtual interactive simulation to research the use of virtual humans in a learning environment. The application utilizes an interpersonal simulator that allows users to simulate interviewing a virtual patient. BioMedTech Virtual Clinic recreates You, M.D., an existing interpersonal simulator developed by the University of Florida, with the addition of new features to incorporate different teaching methodologies. The data that will be collected from the use of BioMedTech Virtual Clinic will be used to analyze and research how people learn using virtual humans. This paper presents the design of BioMedTech Virtual Clinic and discusses the newly added features. Advisors/Committee Members: Ruttan, Arden.