Stephen H. Lane

 

Brief Bio

 

Dr. Lane is an accomplished researcher, educator and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience designing, developing and commercializing advanced 3D graphics and animation technology for use in computer games, virtual reality, and distributed simulation and training applications. Dr. Lane’s responsibilities have ranged from basic technology development to computer hardware and software design, project management and business development.  He is currently an Associate Professor of Practice in the Computer & Info Science Dept. and also President of soVoz, Inc., a company developing advanced virtual reality user interfaces for immersive training and exergaming applications. 

After receiving his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1988, Dr. Lane co-founded Robicon Systems Inc. to develop advanced technologies in the areas of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) based upon biological principles.  Through research funded by contracts and grants from DARPA, the National Science Foundation, the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, RCA’s David Sarnoff Research Center and Princeton University, Robicon created state-of-the-art robotic skill acquisition technology (using neural networks, expert system techniques and a sophisticated form of inverse kinematics known as limb coordination) that laid the foundation for later commercialization efforts in the area of interactive character animation.

In 1993 Dr. Lane co-founded Katrix, Inc. to commercialize the robotics and AI technology developed at Robicon for use in interactive entertainment and computer animation markets. These commercialization efforts resulted in a series of game development contracts and technology licenses with Hasbro Inc., AT&T, Microsoft, Disney, Intel MetaCreations and the US Army. 

In 1999, Dr. Lane founded soVoz, Inc. to commercialize the behavioral animation technology developed at Robicon and Katrix in the area of character-based intelligent agents.  In addition to the Virtual Locomotion Controller developed as part of an SBIR Phase II and III effort with the US Army RDECOM Simulation Technology and Training Center, soVoz also developed a suite of products and services, known as ProScena™, that allowed advanced interactive 3D simulation capabilities to be easily added to game, training and simulation applications. 

In 2001, Dr. Lane joined the faculty of the Computer and Information Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania as an Adjunct Professor and founded the Computer Graphics and Game Technology (CGGT) Masters Program in 2004. He currently teaches courses on Computer Animation (CIS462/562),  Advanced Topics in Computer Graphics and Animation (CIS660) and Computer Game Design and Development (CIS564).   

Education. Dr. Lane received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University in 1980, a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering. from UCLA in 1982, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 1988.