Math & Mixed Reality in the Real World

Interactive talk at the Singapore Science Centre, 26 November 2019, 2.30pm to 3.30pm

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!”  Arthur C. Clarke 

Math and Mixed Reality are both tools of magic – few people understand it, most people use it, and all people are affected by it. We want all of us to be able to understand it. 

Mathematics is seen by many as hard, boring, or both. Mixed Reality is seen as overly futuristic and not-for-us. Neither of those beliefs can be further from the truth. In fact, both Math and Mixed Reality have been contributing significantly to the real world and are changing societies. 

All the technologies that we use and in our evolving “smart” Singapore, depend on them. Mathematics is also very useful in everyday personal life: for instance, when shopping (is it really a bargain?), estimating the duration of a trip, splitting the bill with our friends, or simply passing those Math exams with flying colours. 

Mathematics also improves our mental ability as it teaches or disciplines us into thinking logically. And finally, mathematics is also just plain fun: what other subject is about solving puzzles? 

In the first part of our highly interactive talk, we will showcase some fun facts from Mathematics and its relation to daily life. Then we move on to one of today’s most talkedabout emerging technologies – Mixed Reality. We shall see how easy it is to build worlds of our imagination using just a computer, by creating a small video game. Then blurring the difference between the virtual and the real world using Mixed Reality. We shall see that whatever we create continues to use the same principles of Mathematics that we covered earlier. We shall also get to experience a live demo of a real-world application of Mixed Reality in the context of a “Smart City” such as Singapore. 

The entire talk is interactive and involves participants at each stage of the learning process. Math and Mixed Reality, after all, are both intensely personal and collaborative activities at the same time! 

Our talk will be attractive to artists, storytellers, designers, dreamers, thinkers and problem solvers. Just come with an open mind! 

Date :  26 November 2019 Time :  2:30pm to 3:30pm
Venue:  Mendel Auditorium (Ground Level), Science Centre Singapore

NO pre-registration required. Attending this talk is complimentary. Please note that regular admission charges into the Science Centre applies. See Terms & Conditions @ https://www.science.edu.sg/visit-us/ticket-prices   

Prof Dr Robert Ernst Kooij
PhD, TU Delft, the Netherlands
MSc, TU Delft (Applied Mathematics), the Netherlands

Principal Research Scientist iTrust, Centre for Research in Cyber Security, Singapore University of Technology and Design

Robert Kooij has a background in mathematics; he received his PhD cum laude at Delft University of Technology in 1993. From 1997 until 2003, he was employed at KPN, the largest telecom operator in the Netherlands. Since 2003, he worked at TNO, the Netherlands Organization of Applied Scientific Research. In 2011, he became Principal Scientist conducting and managing research on Critical ICT Infrastructures.

Since 2005, Robert is affiliated (part-time) with the Delft University of Technology, with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science. Since 2010, he is a part-time full professor with the Chair of “Robustness of Complex Networks”. In 2016, he relocated to the TNO South-East Asia Office in Singapore. As of April 2018, he is a principal research scientist at SUTD, working on cybersecurity for critical infrastructures.

Mr Siddhant Shrivastava
Research Assistant
iTrust, Centre for Research in Cyber Security
Singapore University of Technology and Design

Siddhant is a researcher in Prof Aditya Mathur's group at iTrust Center for Research in Cyber Security, SUTD, focusing mainly on security in the design phase of Critical CyberPhysical Systems and creating explorable security labs in Mixed/Virtual Reality. In a parallel project, he has developed a distributed and orthogonal system of devices called Intelligent Checkers which detect complex Cyber-Physical Attacks more efficiently than conventional methods.

Prior to joining iTrust, he has worked in various areas of Computer Science, Electronics, Design, and Finance at Goldman Sachs, MIT Media Lab, the Indian Space Research Organization, the Mars City Project and Python Software Foundation (under the Google Summer of Code program). He received his BE (Hons) in Computer Science from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.

From 26 Nov 2019
Until 26 Nov 2019
Singapore Science Centre
Singapore
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