James Niehaus
Principal Scientist and Director

Dr. Niehaus specializes in the computational modeling of narrative. As the principal investigator for multiple efforts to develop new training technologies, Niehaus has developed game-based training and virtual coaches for a wide range of audiences; investigated the neural, cognitive, and behavioral relationship between implicit learning and intuition; and worked on social robots for Alzheimer’s patients.

With more than 15 years’ experience applying AI to training systems and instructional design, Niehaus is a highly valued mentor and collaborator for other Charles River scientists and engineers, contributing to a variety of virtual and adaptive systems for medical training. He’s also worked on narrative generation projects, cultural interaction with virtual agents, and cognitive models of discourse comprehension.

Niehaus has a B.S. in computer science from the College of Charleston and a Ph.D. in computer science from North Carolina State University. He is a member of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and of the National Training and Simulation Association. His extensive publications list includes “Designing Serious Games to Train Medical Team Skills” (with Ashley McDermott and Peter Weyhrauch), “Applications of Virtual Environments in Human Factors Research and Practice” (co-author), and “Development of Virtual Simulations for Medical Team Training: An Evaluation of Key Features” (with Ashley McDermott, Peter Weyhrauch, et al.)