The team of Kilo Hōkū VR first banded together during a Virtual Reality class taught by Jason Leigh at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the Fall of 2016. During this class, the first version of Kilo Hōkū VR was created. The development team continues to work on Kilo Hōkū VR under the name Wayfinding Interactive, adding more features to further improve the capability of the simulation.
Patrick A. Karjala
A full time programmer in the College of Education at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His research focus is in the efficacy of teaching traditional non-instrument ocean navigation using Virtual Reality. He holds his MS in Computer Science from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and a dual BA in Theatre Arts and Computer Science from the University of Puget Sound.
Dean Lodes
A Media Specialist on the Learning Technology team of the Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His background in management, instructional design, classroom instruction, and multimedia development gives him a sophisticated grasp of the most effective methods for the development of educational technology. Dean is currently a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Communication & Information Sciences program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Masters degree in Information & Communication Technology from the University of Denver, and two Associates degrees in Computer Information Systems from the Fox Valley Technical College.
Kari K. Noe
Born and raised on Kauaʻi, Noe is currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She is a research assistant at the Laboratory for Advanced Visualization & Applications (LAVA), co-leads the emerging media lab Create(x) at the University of Hawai’i at West O’ahu, and works as an Indigenous Tech Specialist at the UH Office of Indigenous Innovation. Her research focus is in HCI and design methods to develop interactive immersive spaces using emerging media technology for informal leaning environments. She holds a BA and MS in Computer Science and a BA in Animation from the Academy of Creative Media at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa . Her skills include XR design & programming, and 2D/3D asset creation & animation.
Anna Sikkink
She is currently pursuing her MS in Computer Science at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. She also holds a BS in Computer Science and minor in Astronomy from the UH Mānoa, and currently works as an IT Specialist for Student Housing Services at UH. She has a wide range of interests, including software development, data visualization, video game design, and virtual reality. She enjoys working on projects that combine her passions and teach concepts to students of all ages. Kilo Hōkū was a perfect project in both of those areas as it made use of her computer science skills and astronomy knowledge to develop the system to teach basic Modern Hawaiian navigation using the stars in Virtual Reality.
Kilo Hōkū VR 