Randall W. Hill, Jr.

Research Interests

Research interests center around the development of artificial intelligence methods for autonomous agents in simulated and virtual environments, as well as for computer-assisted learning and educational learning environments. Specifically, interested in perception, attention, agent modeling, plan recognition, cognitive modeling, and the integration of planning and plan execution in agents performing tasks in dynamic simulation and virtual environments. Related to these interests, Randall Hill joined the recently formed Institute for Creative Technologies in June 2000, where he is involved in research on virtual humans and immersive learning environments, which is being applied to a Mission Rehearsal Exercise system. He has been a member of the Soar research team at USC since 1995.

Biography

Randall (Randy) Hill, Jr., Executive Director graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1978 and subsequently served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army for six years with assignments in field artillery and military intelligence.

Dr. Hill joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1984.  There he became a technical group supervisor and the work area manager for network automation in NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) Advanced Technology Program. While at JPL, he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Southern California in 1987 and 1993, respectively. His doctoral thesis showed how intelligent tutoring systems can be used in interactive simulations to assist students in learning how to operate complex equipment.

Dr. Hill joined the USC Information Sciences Institute in 1995, where he worked with Paul Rosenbloom, Milind Tambe and Jonathan Gratch on the development of models of human behavior and decision-making for real-time simulation environments. He joined the USC Institute for Creative Technologies in June 2000 as a Senior Scientist and was involved with research on virtual humans and immersive learning environments. In December 2004, Dr. Hill became Director of Applied Research and Transition.  In this position, one of his greatest accomplishments was forging stronger ties between entertainment industry and technology developers to create engaging immersive learning environments.   Most notably, he led the Army Excellence in Leadership (AXL) and Enhanced Learning Environments with Creative Technologies (ELECT) projects at the Institute.   In October of 2006, Dr. Hill was named the Executive Director of the ICT.

Dr. Hill is a research assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at USC. He is a member of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and his recent professional activities outside the ICT include organizing the First and Second Americas School on Agents and Multiagent Systems (2002, 2003) and serving as the chair of the Sixteenth Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence Conference, which will took place in San Jose, CA, July 2004.  More recently he has served on the Program Committees for the Eighteenth Conference on Innovative Applications for Artificial Intelligence (June 2006, Boston, MA), the Fifteenth Conference on Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation (May 2006, Baltimore, MD), and the Sixth International Working Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents hosted by the ICT (August 2006, Marina Del Rey, CA).   Dr. Hill has over fifty technical publications, including a co-authored article, “Toward Virtual Humans” featured in AI Magazine in Summer 2006.

Past Projects

Flexible Group Behavior -- DARPA Advanced Simulation Technology Thrust

Emotional Synthetic Forces -- Army Research Institute

Adaptive Synthetic Forces -- Office of Naval Research

Army Announces Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) at USC

Detailed Biography and Current Activities

Curriculum Vitae

Publications

Introduction to Artificial IntelligenceSpring, 1998 at USC

Integrated Intelligent SystemsSpring, 2000 at USC

Contact Information

Randall W. Hill, Jr., Ph.D.

Executive Director

Institute for Creative Technologies

University of Southern California

13274 Fiji Way, Suite 600

Marina del Rey, CA 90292-7008

310 574-7815

310 574-5725 (Fax)