Emma Persky
Core Skills
Personal Profile
I am currently a third year mature undergraduate of Computing at Imperial College London. I have been working as a software / web developer since around the age of 15, and I was working full time in the industry 2004 - 2005. My experience in both industry and education has provided me with the ability to work in a number of different styles and has enabled me to hone my adaptation skills to the point where I am able to understand and react to foreign situations quickly. In addition I have retail and customer service skills which complement my technical ability and provide me with a well rounded skill set.
My major project for this year is to develop a hand gesture recognition system which uses a webcam to analyse hand movements in order to control ubiquitous computer systems without the need for a special glove or other physical contact device. The aim is to produce a system that will recognise a set of gestures so that a person without enough manual dexterity to operate a TV remote control can operate a TV by gesturing with their hands.
My major project for last year was to develop a multiplayer web based game which used a database back end. For this I created a game which could be described as non-linear monopoly played out on a world map. It was played simultaneously in real time by all players on a Google Maps game board so that players could see each other moving about from city to city, and keep track of global events. The game used a combination of Javascript on the front end and a Ruby on Rails backed, with communication by AJAX methods to keep up the fast pace. At the time it was the only multiplayer, multi client, real time game based on Google Maps. Feel free to take a look at my very technical report.
Throughout my entire degree I have kept a constant focus on the concepts of usability and experience, taking options which included these aspects whenever possible, such as the HCI courses. In all of the systems I have produced for my degree I have focused on how users will interact with my development, culminating in my current major project which has a strong emphasis on user experience of ubiquitous computing. I am interested in roles which take this understanding of experience at a level more abstracted from the software development I am used to and focus more heavily on the interaction aspects of the design process. In addition I am fully proficient in producing reports, documentation and have well developed presentational skills.
You can also download a pdf of my entire cv, with work history, references, etc.