Colby Johanson


PostDoc



The goal of my research is primarily to help people become become better gamers. During my Ph.D., I explored how psychomotor skills develop within games. Outside of games, I am interested in how technology can help make people’s lives easier. With that in mind, I created and maintain software that helps researchers collect data for their studies, via a framework known as the “Bride of Frankensystem”. I completed my Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2023 at the University of Saskatchewan. My dissertation was titled “Level Up: Supporting In-Game Skill Development” and was co-supervised by Regan Mandryk and Carl Gutwin. I completed my M.Sc. in Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan in 2016. My thesis was titled “Scaffolding Novices to Leverage Auditory Awareness Cues in First-Person Shooters” and was supervised by Regan Mandryk. I also hold a B.Sc. in physics from the University of the Fraser Valley. Outside of academia, I enjoy woodworking, hiking, reading, 3D printing, cars, photography, and electronics. I have also worked on two commercial video games – Radio General and its spiritual successor, Real-Time General.