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A Day in the Life of a Researcher – James O’ Rourke

Posted: 11-03-2024

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  • Walton News

Welcome to a day in the life of a Walton Institute at South East Technological University (SETU) researcher. This article focuses on James O’ Rourke, an Experienced Software Research Engineer at Walton Institute. James is a member of the Extended Reality (XR) team in Walton Institute’s Mobile Ecosystem and Pervasive Sensing (MEPS) Division. 

James has been a member of the Walton Institute XR team since 2021, and he tells us in that time the knowledge base and skillset within the team has expanded immensely. Prior to working in Walton Institute, he worked in a range of industries, but seeking a forever job with a view to researching and building software applications led him to upskill and complete a BSc Hons. in Entertainment Systems at South East Technological University (SETU).

Outline your day-to-day

My day usually starts with revision of work I completed the day prior and then continuing on if the task is not complete; sometimes this may be development work for the project currently at hand, other times a continuation of a proposal or general research. 

My title, Experienced Software Research Engineer, means not only do I work on the development of new technologies and new ways to use current technologies, but also proposals for funding opportunities, along with research. The proposal writing is usually in the form of EU or Enterprise Ireland projects that require XR based technology. The other parts of proposal writing are open-call based where the scope is for XR technologies to be implemented under certain parameters/scope, with expected TRL (Technology Readiness Levels) achieved. 

As part of the XR team there is a daily stand-up each morning where each member goes through tasks completed the day prior and the tasks they hope to get through today. This is then followed by any potential blockers that might occur while completing the tasks. 

Currently, I am also completing an MSc in Computer Science (Enterprise Software Systems). I am completing this part-time, so balancing this with work life can be tough at times. However, it will be worth it to gain vital knowledge to expand my abilities and enhance the team.

How and why did you get into your research field?

During my time in college, various new and emerging technologies were starting to gain better traction in the general population, from AR based applications, like Ingress and Pokémon Go, to VR reconstructions of environments and theme parks. For my final year project in college I worked towards developing an application to reconstruct old buildings from models and overlay them on the ruins in an augmented environment. The proof of concept was iOS based and used technology only in beta releases from Apple, so a lot of researching was needed to get a working prototype up and running. This workflow showed me how much I enjoyed the concept of research development, and having to document the process for the final year project is very similar to the work completed here. Overall I felt like this environment would be a good fit for me going forward.

What research projects are you currently working on?

The latest project I worked on was Nature Walker, a 360º video mobile application for exploring nature through woodland walks. Currently the application has walks from the Tintern Trails in Co. Wexford, with scope to expand the walks to other regions.

As with most other team members, we are always working on smaller demo-like projects that show the use cases/newer technologies that are emerging, so a better understanding can be had on what is available and possible in the world of XR. 

Big and little wins?

It seems the big wins always stem from a group of little wins, be it getting rid of some bug that has been holding up progress to some small piece of software becoming available for use that makes life easier. When it comes to development there are never any real wins or losses, just working software or a learning experience. 

What are the challenging and enjoyable aspects of being a researcher in your field?

Being in the field of XR has many upsides: as hardware developments extend further into the realms of disbelief, the world of XR through training and media consumption is growing so fast there is always a new piece of technology to explore and research. This, along with AI developments in media generation and large language models, makes life interesting and keeps research prospects from becoming stagnant.

Having the opportunity to expand on the foundations of others is a real pleasure, and now that technologies are catching up to what people expect from the industry, only time will tell where this research area might go in the future.