Mary C. Whitton

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Mary C. Whitton
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma mater
  • North Carolina State University
  • Duke University
Spouse(s)Nick England
Awards
  • IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Career Award (2021)
  • ACM SIGGRAPH Outstanding Service Award (2013)
Scientific career
FieldsComputer Science
InstitutionsUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Websitewww.cs.unc.edu/~whitton/

Mary C. Whitton is a research professor in computer science known for her work in 3D computer graphics and virtual reality. During her time at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Whitton developed and evaluated a number of technical solutions for enhancing the effectiveness and virtual applications for training, simulation, and rehabilitation. Her research group, which was co-led with Fred Brooks, pioneered the areas of redirected walking and passive haptics in VR as well as the application of physiological measures to understand stress responses in virtual environments [1] [2]. In 2021, Whitton received the IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Career Award for her lifetime contributions to fields of virtual & augmented reality[2].

Whitton has also co-founded two companies in the domains of computer hardware, graphics, and visualization. She created Ikonas Graphics Systems (1978) and Trancept Systems (1986) with her husband Nick England. The two companies were later acquired by Adage, Inc. and Sun Microsystems, Inc., respectively [3]. In 1980, their Ikonas Raster Display System 3000 (Ikonas RDS-3000) system was a precursor to the general purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs) that are used today. Their system was used by companies including NASA, Bell Labs, Pixar, Rolls-Royce, and others [4] [5].

Professor Whitton has been a leader in the ACM SIGGRAPH community since the 1980s and has made contributions to the long-term planning of the organization by serving as President for SIGGRAPH 1993-1995; by chairing its "SIGGRAPH in the 21st century" workshop, which helped shape the activities of the organization for a decade; and more. In 2013, she was acknowledged acknowledged for her contributions to the ACM SIGGRAPH organization and its associated conferences [6].


Biography

Before entering the field of computer science, Whitton graduated from Duke University in Durham, NC with a bachelor's degree in religion (1970). After graduation she then taught math to junior high school students and obtained a Master of Science Guidance and Personnel Services in 1974. That same year she married her spouse, Nick England.

Her entrance to the fields of electrical engineering and computer science began in 1976 when she left her teaching position to join Professor John Staudhammer's research group to study computer graphics at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 1976. It was during this time at North Carolina State that she began her entrepreneurial pursuits by co-founding Ikonas Graphics Systems with Nick England in 1978. During this time, Whitton took a leave of absence from her studies to develop the company until it was sold to Adage, Inc. in 1982. She then returned to NCSU to graduate with a Master's of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in 1984. The programmable matrix multiplier and a B-spline patch evaluation that Whitton designed to complete her master's degree found application in the graphics technology developed through her startup companies [7] [8].

In 1986, Whitton, England, and Tim Van Hook founded a second company: Trancept Systems [9]. Trancept Systems focused on the development of a programmable graphics, imaging processor to plug into Sun Microsystems workstations. Their company was quickly purchased by Sun Microsystems the following year. Whitton then worked at Sun Microsystems Laboratories until October of 1994.

Whitton joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995 as a Research Professor of Computer Science, where she co-led the Effective Virtual Environments (EVE) research team with Fred Brooks [10]. While at UNC Chapel Hill, Whitton applied her expertise in human factors, electrical engineering, and computer science to publish research that has become foundational to several areas of research within the field of virtual reality (VR), including: virtual locomotion, passive haptics, rehabilitation, and the use of physiological measures to evaluate user experiences in VR. Her contributions to this body of research granted her the 2021 VGTC Virtual Reality Career Award, an award with great prominence in virtual and augmented reality academic communities [2]. Whitton has authored or co-authored over 60 publications, including: book chapters, journal papers, and conference papers [11].

Although Whitton is now retired, she continues to publish research with collaborators and she dedicates her time to preserving important computer graphics history by chairing the ACM SIGGRAPH History Committee [12].

Awards

  • IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Career Award, 2021
  • North Carolina State University Hall of Frame, 2016
  • ACM SIGGRAPH Outstanding Service Award, 2013
  • Inclusion in SIGGRAPH “Computer Graphics Pioneers” Portrait Gallery, 1998

References

  1. ↑ Whitton, Mary. "Personal website". Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "The 2021 VGTC Virtual Reality Career Award". IEEE VGTC. 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  3. ↑ England, Nick (May–June 2020). "The Graphics System for the 80's". IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications. 40 (3): 112-119. doi:10.1109/MCG.2020.2983816. Retrieved 28 December 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  4. ↑ Kahlbaum, William; Ownbey, Katrina (1989). "High-speed Real-time Animated Displays on the ADAGE® RDS 3000 Raster Graphics System" (PDF). National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Management, Scientific and Technical Information Division. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  5. ↑ Nick, England. "Ikonas Graphics Systems Customer List". Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "2013 Outstanding Service Award: Mary Whitton". ACM SIGGRAPH. 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "Hall of Fame 2016: Mary Whitton". North Carolina State University. 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  8. ↑ Whitton, Mary (1984). "Special Purpose Hardware for the Display of Free-Form Surfaces". Masters thesis, North Carolina State University.
  9. ↑ England, Nick. "Trancept Systems TAAC-1 - The first board-level GPGPU product". Computer Graphics History. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  10. ↑ https://www.cs.unc.edu/Research/eve/people.html
  11. ↑ "Mary Whitton". Google Scholar Citations. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "ACM SIGGRAPH: History Committee". Retrieved 28 December 2021.

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