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Dr Jethro Shell

Job: VC2020 Senior Lecturer

Faculty: Computing, Engineering and Media

School/department: School of Computer Science and Informatics

Research group(s): Centre for Computational Intelligence (CCI)

Address: De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH, UK

T: 44 (0)116 207 8520

E: jethros@dmu.ac.uk

 

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Personal profile

Whilst working for Panasonic Computer Products (Europe), Dr Shell completed a part time MSc in Information Technology at De Montfort University, finishing his studies in 2008. Following a 10 year career with Panasonic, he left industry to return to academia completing a PhD at De Montfort University. The focus of his PhD was on sparse data environments where the ability to gain labelled data is initially either extremely difficult or impossible. Environments such as extremely remote locations, ad-hoc structures or user groups that are very specific. These environments often also produce uncertain and vague data. To address these issues he constructed a framework that combined a fuzzy logic representation of the data with a transductive transfer learning approach.

Dr Shell has been a Principal Investigator (PI) on a number of internal and externally funded (including Horizon2020) projects that involve the application of Computational Intelligence (CI) and gaming applications.

The research interests of Dr Shell are focussed around the application of Computational Intelligence, specifically fuzzy logic and transfer learning across and within three main areas: gaming, healthcare and HCI.

He is currently a senior lecturer and researcher in Games and Information Systems at De Montfort University

Research group affiliations

Centre for Computational Intelligence (CCI)

De Montfort University Games And interactive MEdia Research (DMU:GAMER)

Publications and outputs

  • Assessing web 2D user interface experiences in mixed reality.
    dc.title: Assessing web 2D user interface experiences in mixed reality. dc.contributor.author: Xing, Yongkang; Fahy, Conor; Shell, Jethro dc.description.abstract: Mixed Reality (MR) technologies have the potential to revolutionize how we interact with various fields, such as medicine, education, and communication. However, existing studies have not comprehensively investigated the overall performance of 2D user interfaces (UIs) in 3D spaces. There are gaps and questions that have not been properly addressed in the transition from 2D to 3D UIs. To investigate this, we design an experiment with 80 participants to evaluate the 2D UI user experience on MR platforms. Our study reveals that compared with desktop devices, the website user experience on MR platforms leads to poorer learning performance. One-to-one interviews with participants reveal issues with both the hardware field of view and color definition, as well as the UI. Based on these findings, we propose that a generalized and optimized 3D UI would reduce control difficulties and improve the learning experience provided by MR platforms. Our study provides critical data that can be used to enhance 3D UIs on MR platforms. dc.description: open access article
  • Digital Storytelling in Virtual Reality: Bridging the Virtual and Reality in Cultural Tourism at the Great Bay Area
    dc.title: Digital Storytelling in Virtual Reality: Bridging the Virtual and Reality in Cultural Tourism at the Great Bay Area dc.contributor.author: Xing, Yongkang; Fahy, Conor; Feng, Guokai; Liang, Yi; Huang, Haiqi; Shell, Jethro dc.description.abstract: The Chinese tourism economy requires recovery following the impact of COVID-19 and seeks to attract international tourists to visit China. This study leverages Virtual Reality (VR) technology to create a virtual tour that entices international users to engage in immersive virtual exploration. The primary objective is to use this virtual project as a bridge between the virtual and real worlds, motivating tourists to consider visiting Chinese sightseeing. Our analysis suggests that creating an appealing first impression is crucial, which involves utilizing beautiful scenery to captivate tourists. The study meticulously designs the virtual environment based on floor plans and relevant documents. To enhance the participation of tourists, we implement a variety of interactive elements, categorized into three primary aspects: Collections' Interaction, Navigation and Storytelling, and Connecting Modules. By combining these elements, this study aspires to contribute significantly to cultural heritage tourism by enticing international users into virtual exploration and inspiring them to embark on real-world journeys to experience the rich cultural heritage of China firsthand.
  • Developing and delivering in block: Reflections one year in
    dc.title: Developing and delivering in block: Reflections one year in dc.contributor.author: Allman, Zoe; Coupland, Simon; Attwood, Luke; Fahy, Conor; Hasshu, Salim; Khuman, A. S.; Shell, Jethro
  • Designing VR training systems for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
    dc.title: Designing VR training systems for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) dc.contributor.author: Shell, Jethro; Kwan, H. Y.; Lin, L.; Fahy, Conor; Pang, S.; Xing, Y.
  • Virtual Reality Research: Design Virtual Education System for Epidemic (COVID-19) Knowledge to Public
    dc.title: Virtual Reality Research: Design Virtual Education System for Epidemic (COVID-19) Knowledge to Public dc.contributor.author: xing, Yongkang; Liang, Zhanti; Fahy, Conor; Shell, Jethro; Guan, Kexin; Liu, Yuxi; Zhang, Qian dc.description.abstract: Advances in information and communication technologies have created a range of new products and services for the well-being of society. Virtual Reality (VR) technology has shown enormous potential in educational, commercial, and medical fields. The recent COVID-19 outbreak highlights a poor global performance in communicating epidemic knowledge to the public. Considering the potential of VR, the research starts from analyzing how to use VR technology to improve public education in COVID-19. The research uses Virtual Storytelling Technology (VST) to promote enthusiasm in user participation. A Plot-based VR education system is proposed in order to provide an immersive, explorative, educational experiences. The system includes three primary modules: the Tutorial Module, the Preparation Module, and the Investigation Module. To remove any potential confusion in the user, the research aims to avoid extremely complicated medical professional content and uses interactive, entertainment methods to improve user participation. In order to evaluate the performance efficiency of the system, we conducted performance evaluations and a user study with 80 participants. Compared with traditional education, the experimental results show that the VR education system can used as an effective educational tool for epidemic (COVID-19) fundamental knowledge. The VR technology can assist government agencies and public organizations to increase public understanding of the spread the epidemic (COVID-19) dc.description: open access article
  • Historical Data Trend Analysis in Extended Reality Education Field
    dc.title: Historical Data Trend Analysis in Extended Reality Education Field dc.contributor.author: Shell, Jethro; Xing, Yongkang; Liang, Zhanti; Fahy, Conor; Guan, Kexin; Liu, Guan dc.description.abstract: The arrival of the digital age brings Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality technologies into our daily life. It provides a brand-new user experience to composite with real environments. Due to the development of related devices in recent years, the highly interactive connections between users and devices have gradually evolved. The paper starts from a literature review to discuss Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality's history and social impact. The review reveals not only the traditional historical review but also contains a data research study. The research focuses on the case study paper, which proposed a bright, interactive future with technology in educational field. We compared the proposed future view and the current development. This paper collected 269 citations from 2005 to 2020 and analyzed them, assessing whether they belonged to technical or theoretical paper. The paper uses the collected data to discuss industrial developing trends and indicates the possible future view based on the data study result.
  • What Do We See: An Investigation Into the Representation of Disability in Video Games
    dc.title: What Do We See: An Investigation Into the Representation of Disability in Video Games dc.contributor.author: Shell, Jethro dc.description.abstract: There has been a large body of research focused on the representation of gender in video games. Disproportionately, there has been very little research in respect to the representation of disability. This research was aimed at examining the representation of disabled characters through a method of content analysis of trailers combined with a survey of video gamers. The overall results showed that disabled characters were under-represented in videogames trailers, and respondents to the survey viewed disabled characters as the least represented group. Both methods of research concluded that the representation of disabled characters was low. Additionally, the characters represented were predominantly secondary, non-playable characters not primary. However, the research found that the defined character type was a mixture of protagonists and antagonists, bucking the standard view of disabled characters in video games.
  • A fast and efficient semantic short text similarity metric
    dc.title: A fast and efficient semantic short text similarity metric dc.contributor.author: Shell, Jethro; Coupland, Simon; Croft, David; Brown, Stephen dc.description.abstract: The semantic comparison of short sections of text is an emerging aspect of Natural Language Processing (NLP). In this paper we present a novel Short Text Semantic Similarity (STSS) method, Lightweight Semantic Similarity (LSS), to address the issues that arise with sparse text representation. The proposed approach captures the semantic information contained when comparing text to process the similarity. The methodology combines semantic term similarities with a vector similarity method used within statistical analysis. A modification of the term vectors using synset similarity values addresses issues that are encountered with sparse text. LSS is shown to be comparable to current semantic similarity approaches, LSA and STASIS, whilst having a lower computational footprint.
  • Healthcare Facility Coverage for Malaria and Sickle Cell Disease Treatment: A Spatial Analysis of Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State
    dc.title: Healthcare Facility Coverage for Malaria and Sickle Cell Disease Treatment: A Spatial Analysis of Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State dc.contributor.author: Olowofoyeku, Olukemi; Shell, Jethro; Goodyer, Eric A.; Deka, Lipika dc.description.abstract: The escalating population growth in Nigeria calls for urgent attention to malaria control and the provision of accessible public health care for treatment of the disease (appropriate malaria treatment and intervention can, in turn, bring a reduction in the sickle cell disease (SCD) crisis). Malaria is a major cause of visits to healthcare facilities, which is amplified by the malaria interaction with SCD. Access to treatment is a basic need of the population in a country; however, in Nigeria, access to health care is generally poor. Healthcare facilities are sparsely distributed and services inadequate to take care of the health needs of the whole population. This article discusses malaria and SCD prevalence in Nigeria and analyses the spatial distribution of primary healthcare facilities in the Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria, using Geographic Information System (GIS). Analysis is based on existing facility locations in relation to 15 and 30 minutes’ walking time in a 1-km and 2-km catchment radius, respectively. The results show primary health center (PHC) facilities’ coverage of 48 percent for 2-km catchment radius and 15 percent for 1-km catchment. Based on this analysis, this article argues that there is a need to increase the number of facilities for treatment that are optimally located to take care of travel distance and expand facility coverage. This will reduce mortality and morbidity rates due to the diseases. dc.description: The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
  • INNATE: Intelligent Non-invasive Nocturnal epilepsy Assistive TEchnology
    dc.title: INNATE: Intelligent Non-invasive Nocturnal epilepsy Assistive TEchnology dc.contributor.author: Malekmohamadi, Hossein; Shell, Jethro; Coupland, Simon dc.description.abstract: Epilepsy is a neurological disease that affects the brain and is characterised by repeated seizures. Generalised, focal and unknown are three major types of seizures. Each type has several subgroups. For this reason, seizure detection and classification are expensive and erroneous. Other factors can also affect the detection. For example, patients can have a combination of different seizures or start with one type and finish with another. Nocturnal epilepsy can be prominent in many sufferers of this disease. This displays seizures that occur during the sleep cycle. The nature of such seizures makes the gathering of data and the subsequent detection and classification complex and costly. The current standard for seizure detection is the invasive use of electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring. Both medical and research communities have expressed a large interest in the detection and classification of seizures automatically and non-invasively. This project proposes the use of 3D computer vision and pattern recognition techniques to detect seizures non-invasively.

Click here to view a full listing of Jethro Shell's publications and outputs.

Research interests/expertise

  • Computational intelligence
  • Computer game AI
  • Fuzzy logic
  • Transfer learning
  • Dynamic content generation
  • Medical applications of CI
  • Human computer interface
  • Sensors
  • Virtual reality

Areas of teaching

  • Game design
  • Mobile games
  • Fuzzy logic
  • Games projects
  • UML
  • Game AI
  • Physics

Qualifications

  • MSc
  • PhD

Courses taught

  • IMAT1606: Game Architecture, Design and Development
  • IMAT2608: Mobile Games
  • IMAT2800: Mechanics and Artificial Intelligence For Simulation
  • IMAT3406: Fuzzy Logic and Knowledge Based Systems
  • IMAT3451: Computing Project

Externally funded research grants information

3D-TuneIn: H2020 project to produce digital games applied to hearing aids to address social inclusion, 01 June 2015 to 31 May 2018, Principal Investigator (Imperial College, University of Nottingham, Vianet, Reactify, University of Malaga)

Internally funded research project information

INNATE: HEIF Project to detect and predict nocturnal seizures using non-invasive techniques, 6 Jan - 01 June 2016, Principal Investigator.

Professional esteem indicators

  • IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, Jan 2014, current, reviewer
  • Sensors, March 2014, current, reviewer
  • IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games, Oct 2016, current, reviewer