A New Name in Drama
USC’s Dramatic Arts Building will be renamed the Dick Wolf Drama Center. The Emmy-winning creator of the Law & Order franchise is supporting the next generation of artists and creative entrepreneurs with a significant contribution to the USC School of Dramatic Arts.
USC Photo/Gus Ruelas
Top Headlines
Donor support is growing for USC President Carol Folt’s program to recruit community college transfer students in computing and technology.
More than 1.4 million children have lost a family member to a drug overdose, with younger children increasingly affected, according to a USC Dornsife study.
USC Arts Now will spark innovative arts collaborations and support USC President Carol Folt’s “moonshot” goals for the university through an artistic lens.
The alumnus’ newest gift, which supports the new Bloom Football Performance Center, highlights his family’s devotion to the university and Trojan football.
Celebrating First-Gen Trailblazers
More than 300 first-generation students gathered in Hahn Plaza on the University Park Campus for a spirited noontime event celebrating Trojans who are the first in their families to attend college. They offered messages of inspiration, hope and encouragement for future students — and each other. Nearly a quarter of USC’s first-year enrollees this fall are first-gen students.
Celebrating 25 Years of the USC Institute for Creative Technologies
Since its founding in 1999, the USC Institute for Creative Technologies has been at the forefront of research and development in AI, computer graphics, geospatial sciences, human performance, learning sciences, modeling, simulation and gaming, mixed reality, medical VR and more. An integral part of USC’s Frontiers of Computing initiative, ICT’s labs and groups are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in computing, embodying the spirit of USC’s commitment to pioneering the future of technology.
STORY AND VIDEO IN USC NEWS USC FRONTIERS OF COMPUTING
Major Science and Technology Groups at ICT
Virtual Humans
The ICT Virtual Human Toolkit is a set of tools and resources designed to help researchers and developers create realistic and engaging digital characters. Since 2009, this toolkit has been the foundation for all research at ICT on conversational AIs — computer programs that can interact with people like a human would.
Affective Computing
The Affective Computing Group focuses on understanding how emotions affect both human interactions and interactions between humans and machines. This includes studying how to automatically recognize emotions from different signals, creating computer models of how emotions develop and influence thinking, and applying these methods to improve teamwork between humans and machines, train people in social skills and expand knowledge about human emotions.
Vision and Graphics
Virtual characters are digital humans that can talk, move and interact, and they are important for entertainment, training and education. The main goal of the ICT Vision & Graphics Lab is to make these characters look as realistic as possible, including lighting them in a way that looks natural. To achieve this, the Vision & Graphics Lab uses its award-winning “Light Stage” technology, developed at ICT, to create high-quality visual details. The lab also works with major film companies like Sony Pictures Imageworks and WETA Digital.
Simulation
The Modeling and Simulation Group creates interactive and educational experiences to help train and support military personnel. They bring together researchers, experts, writers and game designers to make these experiences both interesting and useful. They’ve successfully handed over several of their advanced training tools to the U.S. Department of Defense, including a disaster simulation program and various strategic training games for the Naval Postgraduate School.
Mixed Reality
A cognitive architecture is a proposed model of how a mind works, whether in people or machines. It focuses on the basic structures needed to create intelligent behavior and how these structures work with knowledge and skills to handle various complex situations. The aim of this project is to create a smart system that can support virtual humans and possibly intelligent robots, and ideally, help us better understand human thinking.
Integration Environments
Rapid Integration & Development Environment is a key research and development platform that speeds up the development of simulation technologies for the Department of Defense. It quickly creates and tests new ideas for the Army’s Synthetic Training Environment and is now also used for various Navy and Air Force projects. Rapid Integration & Development Environment offers a shared space where researchers and developers can experiment with real-time modeling and simulation to see what’s possible.
Learning Sciences
The ICT Learning Sciences group studies how AI can improve learning and help students achieve their goals. Its mission is to research and apply effective AI methods to make education better and fairer. It also focuses on creating tools that help teachers and content creators use AI to develop and adjust educational materials. It drives innovation through its research projects and two centers: the AI Research Center of Excellence for Education and the USC Center for Generative AI and Society.
Body Computing
The Body Computing & Human Performance Lab is a research center focused on improving health, wellness and human performance using digital tools and data. It aims to create better health resources for both service members and the general public.
The lab brings together experts in human performance, digital technology and healthcare, including sensor and app developers, strategists and designers. They work together to test and develop new technologies that enhance health and performance.
USC Arts Now
USC Arts Now will spark innovative arts collaborations and support USC President Carol Folt’s “moonshot” goals for the university through an artistic lens.
In Focus: USC’s Arts Schools
USC is home to a remarkable collection of arts schools within a distinguished research institution. USC’s six arts schools foster creativity with global perspectives while contributing to the local community, offering outstanding performances, exhibitions, screenings and lectures year-round — open to students from all majors and the broader community.
Inside the Minds of USC’s Groundbreaking Researchers
Lightbulb Moments by USC podcast offers an intimate look at the innovative thinkers driving research at the university. Each episode features interviews with USC’s leading researchers, providing a unique opportunity to hear directly from those who are shaping the future of science, technology, medicine, arts and humanities, and beyond.
Around the University
Dance and Ability: Dance and Neurodiversity/Autism
A panel of doctors, dance instructors and dancers will discuss the intersection of dance, health and ability, and the transformative power of dance as a vehicle for self-expression, physical well-being and inclusive social engagement. The enlightening program is presented by the USC Kaufman School of Dance and USC Arts in Action in partnership with The Miracle Project, the Keck School of Medicine at USC, the USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles,
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m.
Data Discovery Tool Training
The Clinical Research Informatics Program at the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute and Keck Medicine of USC offer researchers free, self-service data discovery tools to explore patient electronic medical record data for research purposes. These tools are available to all USC students, faculty and staff. This virtual training will provide an introduction to the tools and teach researchers how to:
- Query patient data from Keck and 100+ participating partner sites.
- Explore and analyze de-identified data sets.
- Obtain patient-level datasets for study recruitment or retrospective chart review studies.
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 10 a.m.
Rethinking Intelligence: AI in Research and Teaching
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the landscape of education and research, challenging long-held ideas about what it means to be human. The discussion begins by exploring the cognitive, cultural, and biological reasons that drive humans to create and interact with artificial agents — an exploration of why there is a desire to replicate and enhance our capabilities. Following this, discussion shifts to how AI can be leveraged to enrich learning environments, opening new pathways to engage with complex ideas, foster critical thinking and advance interdisciplinary approaches. Speaker Jennifer Devereaux of Harvard University is featured.
Thursday, Dec. 5, 4 p.m.
