Doug Bowman is a Ruling Elder at Grace Covenant (PCA) in Blacksburg, Virginia. He serves as a member of the Collegiate Engagement (RUF) Committee of Blue Ridge Presbytery. He and his wife, Dawn, and children Drew, Caroline and Lucy. His specialties include 3-D gaming, film making and VR (Wii).

Doug Bowman of Virginia Tech, an associate professor of computer science, is one 47 professionals worldwide to be recognized as a 2010 Distinguished Member by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

The distinguished member grade recognizes those members of the association with at least 15 years of professional experience and five years of continuous professional membership who have achieved significant accomplishments or who have made a significant impact on the computing field.

Bowman is a member of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction. A 2003 National Science Foundation CAREER award recipient for his work in 3D interaction, he directs the 3D interaction group at Virginia Tech. This research group focuses on the topics of three-dimensional user interface design and the benefits of working in virtual environments.

Bowman was the lead author of “3D User Interfaces: Theory and Practice.” This book, published in 2004, was the first to provide a comprehensive review of 3-D interaction research and applications. Today, 3-D user interfaces can be found in video games, mobile applications, and Hollywood film studios, and the basic design guidelines resulting from Bowman’s research are used to ensure that these interfaces are usable.

In 2010, Bowman advised a group of Virginia Tech computer science students who won first place in the 3D User Interface contest at the IEEE Symposium on 3-D user interfaces. The team, called the Fighting Gobblers, participated in a contest requiring teams to develop a novel 3-D user interface for a difficult 3-D interaction task. The four students and Bowman designed and implemented an interface for this task based entirely on commodity hardware found in Nintendo Wii controllers.

Bowman’s work has also increased our understanding of virtual reality (VR) systems. His research on the effects of immersion (display fidelity) has provided empirical data to help answer the question, “What is immersive VR good for?” and has resulted in a systematic theoretical framework for describing and evaluating diverse VR technologies. This work has important practical implications, helping designers to choose the most effective VR technology for their applications.

Bowman received his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from Georgia Tech in 1997 and in 1999, respectively. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science in 1994 from Emory University. He started his career at Virginia Tech in 1999.

Bowman is a member of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction. A 2003 National Science Foundation CAREER award recipient for his work in 3-D interaction, he directs the 3-D interaction group at Virginia Tech. This research group focuses on the topics of three-dimensional user interface design and the benefits of working in virtual environments.

The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college’s 6,000 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a “hands-on, minds-on” approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.

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