Jan Carlo Barca came to Monash as an international student and was attracted to its high standards and global reputation. He was searching for a research focus and keen to move out of the comfort zone of his home country of Norway. After graduating from his undergraduate degree in Multimedia with Honours at Monash, Jan Carlo chose to pursue studies in Motion Capture for natural integration with multi-agent systems.
“I wanted to be able to answer exciting research questions which can assist in the advancement of knowledge and technology. In my research I am capturing human movement, and reconstructing this movement in virtual reality so that it can be used for control,” he explains.
“It all started out with a passion for drawing 2D characters. From there I moved on to animation as I wanted to give some sense of life to the characters I had created. After that I wanted to take my animation to the next level and I have now worked with constructing, animating and controlling virtual 3D models for about seven years. “
In some of his latest work, Jan Carlo has incorporated classical artificial intelligence into his 3D characters, so that they can assist humans in the control process. He has definite plans for his future direction: “I would like to bring my 3D models out from cyberspace and into the real world and at the same time, work with control of multi-agent systems. I know that this is important work and it will drive the ‘where’ and ‘how’ of my career. I plan to seek out the best people with whom to work,” says Jan Carlo.
He adds that at Monash he has been given the time and resources to pursue the research goals he has set and learned how to use important research tools. “Basically, I have learned how to learn!”
Like many research students, Jan Carlo has been a sessional lecturer and tutor at his home campus. He is also currently a student representative on the Faculty Research Committee (FRC) where he is able to raise any issues that concern other students. “Tutoring gives you a sense of connection with other creative students and it gives you the opportunity to inspire and be inspired. It is fun to assist people to open their minds to new possibilities.”
“My advice to students is to find what research excites you most, as this will enable you to enjoy your work. And, as Winston Churchill said: Never, never, never give up!”
* The Bachelor of Multimedia is the previous form of the Bachelor of Information Technology and Systems with a major in Multimedia applications or Multimedia games development .