Faculty profile: Michael Reale

August 2015

Computer Vision and Computer Graphics: The former tries to help the computer understand the real world, while the latter focuses on generating images that look like the real world.

And it’s the kind of work that Assistant Professor of Computer Information Science Dr. Michael Reale has spent much of his life and learning working toward.

Michael Reale“Basically, we would like to develop a system that is able to understand human facial expression, head pose direction, eye gaze behavior, gestures, and identity and react/respond accordingly. In essence, the goal is to help computers understand what we want and how we feel moment to moment, and to enable computers to respond intelligently.”

The world is only now beginning to see some applications of this kind of research hit the market, with cameras that can now detect faces in an image and focus accordingly, or devices like the Kinect enabling understanding of full-body gestures, with applications in games, general human-computer interaction, robotics and others.

It’s a research area that is on the bleeding edge of technology, and the hope, Reale says, is that we will see all manner of applications from the kind of work he is doing.

“For example, imagine an automated tutoring system that is able to identify if the student is bored, interested, or confused, and then changes the material accordingly. There could be interfaces for disabled patients that enable human-computer interaction through whatever mechanism is available to them, be it head pose, eye gaze, even facial expressions. Customer service training with virtual avatars that recognize the trainee’s expressions and behavior would also be possible. Indeed, any application where interaction with a human is simulated is a candidate for this kind of research, and it will be exciting to see where it goes from here.”

He grew up, for the most part, outside of Prattsville in Upstate New York, his parents’ house adjacent to a large swathe of state land that made for much time spent outside and a lot of time hiking in the woods.

“It gave me an early appreciation of nature. Later, as I began to delve into computer graphics, I would often look around and think, ‘how would you render that?’” Reale says. “I would like to mention that I was homeschooled by my parents from first grade to the end of high school, and they gave me a thorough classical education as well as encouraged and supported me in pursuing my goals.”

He’s always had an interest in computers and video games and wanted to learn how to program that from the moment he knew what programming was. His first real experience with programming came with an educational program called “Learn to Program Basic.”

“It was a blast, but it was fairly limited,” he says. “I started learning C/C++ a little before high school, and the book “Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus” (by Andre Lamothe) really got me started learning computer graphics and game development.”

He earned his degree in computer science from SUNY College at Oneonta, which he calls “a wonderful experience in every respect.”

“The CS program there is excellent, and I made friends (with both professors and fellow students) that have endured well after I graduated. I must here give a nod to both Dr. Donald Allison and Professor Dennis Higgins, both of whom I was privileged to learn from, work with, and call friends. During my last year there, I gained some on-the-job experience as a Java programmer and software designer for the SICAS Center. It was an amazing opportunity to apply what I was learning in a real workplace setting. I also worked as a lab monitor in our computer science lab; some of my best memories come the times we played on game nights, assembled machines, fought in Nerf wars, and, of course, programmed, both for classes and for fun.”

Directly after that, Reale went for his M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science at Binghamton University, where he found the advanced degree work not only more challenging, but the results much more rewarding. While there, he worked part-time on campus as a graduate assistant with the title “Internet2 Facilitator and XSEDE Campus Champion.”

“A mouthful if ever there was one,” he notes.

The majority of his time was spent helping people with videoconference equipment and getting researchers set up on grid-computing resources, specifically XSEDE. He says he found the work very gratifying to help faculty accomplish more with technology.

Finishing his PhD in May 2014, he was in the midst of a job search when he contacted Professor Chris Urban directly to find out if there was a position open. Fortunately for Reale, and for SUNY Poly, there was.

“I was and continue to be impressed by the quality and commitment of the faculty here, and I could see a commitment to excellence and to making the programs here great. On top of everything else, SUNY Poly and the surrounding area are absolutely beautiful.”

It was while in graduate school that he had the opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant. While he had done informal tutoring as an undergrad, Reale says being a proper teaching assistant gave him a more complete picture of the teaching process.

“The experience solidified that I definitely wanted to continue in this line of work. It’s always great to see the light bulb go on and have a student understand a difficult concept. I recognize the preceding expression has become rather trite with overuse, but it doesn’t make it any less true.”

That spark for teaching others has continued into a full-on flame, as Reale admits he loves the entire process.

“A lot of what we teach is complex, to be sure, but there are ways to bring the material down to whatever the students are at and then build up the complete picture. I endeavor to do this with every lecture I give. In particular, I try to think back and remember what it was that helped me understand the material. Of course, everyone has a different learning style, so if one approach fails, I must fall back and try a different one.”

While what he teaches may be complex, he hopes students leave his classes understanding more than they did before; that whatever concepts or problems looked difficult, taxing, or even frightening, that they are confident and comfortable with the material by the time they finish the class.

“I hope that I can help the students I encounter be the best at whatever noble pursuit they put their hands to. I hope that I can contribute to the state of the art in my research, and enable students who wish to take the same road.”