Bio
My work focuses on translating complex systems into clear, meaningful experiences, drawing on a background in software engineering, audio signal processing, and research in music-related interactive interfaces. I am particularly interested in how technology shapes the way people experience and interpret sound, and how we can design systems that make those interactions more intuitive and meaningful.
I bring both creative insight and technical leadership to my work — guiding projects from concept to implementation, often independently or in collaboration with specialized contributors. Bridging research, design, and engineering, my goal is to create technologies that feel both intelligent and human. I also enjoy communicating complex technical concepts clearly, through writing, visualization, and structured explanation, to help teams and audiences understand the ideas behind technology.
Ph.D. Media Arts and Technology, University of California, Santa Barbara
M.S. Computer Science, George Washington University
WORK OVERVIEW
Audio
Exploring how people experience sound, from signal-level processing to interactive systems that enrich music engagementMy work in audio spans both product development and research. In industry, I’ve helped define and lead the development of original signal-processing architectures and firmware for high-end audio products — focusing on fidelity, efficiency, and long-term independence from off-the-shelf chip solutions. In research, I’ve explored the emotional and perceptual side of listening through interactive systems and mood-based music recommendation, resulting in widely cited, peer-reviewed publications in top-tier scientific journals.
SELECTED PROJECTS
- Real-time Audio Processor. Derived algortihms and implemented pitch-shifting, tuning-frequency analyzer, and dynamic range compression for high-fidelity embedded applications.
- FPGA-based DAC.
Designed and managed development of a proprietary digital-to-analog conversion algorithm, implemented on an FPGA, achieving high efficiency, sound quality and independence from off-the-shelf DAC chips produced by major chip companies.
- Unison USB.
Created a proprietary USB audio receiver and host stack for low-jitter, high-fidelity audio streaming.
- MoodPlay. Academic research on mood-based music discovery and recommendation; developed novel interactive visualizations, recommendation algorithm and conducted extensive user studies. Demo video here!
MoodPlay architecture
Bifrost DAC - one of the hi-fi products I improved
Bonus: Not bad at singing either
Visual
Turning data and structure into clear visual narrativesAcross research and industry, I’ve focused on transforming complex data into interfaces that help people see meaning. My visualization work spans interactive research systems, digital content analytics, and exploratory tools for understanding human and cultural data.
SELECTED PROJECTS
- MoodPlay.
Designed interactive visualizations for exploring emotional dimensions of music, developed as part of PhD research. Combined knowledge from music pshycology with interactive interface design to map music artists in 2D space based on moods, in addition to developing a hybrid music recommendation algorithm. Demo video here!
- Stem Disintermedia.
Created consumer-facing web dashboards visualizing the performance of distributed digital content (music and video) across major platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, and iTunes. Helped artists and managers interpret metrics through intuitive visual design. Stem platform.
- RoSE (Research-Oriented Social Environment). Led visualization design in a multidisciplinary research team investigating online reading and scholarly networks. Developed novel visual representations of relationships within large bibliographic datasets. More about RoSE.
Screenshot of the MoodPlay interface
Screenshots of interactive features in MoodPlay: (1) and (2) - the varying recommendation catchment area around user avatar, (3) - trail based interaction
Artist related moods filtered out by their category
RoSE platform: Visualization of authors (outer circles), their works (inner circles) and relationships among them (lines).
Stem platform: Graph showing breakdown of an artist's earnings for different types of digital content.
Stem platform: Graph showing top performing digital content for an artist.
Writing
Translating complex technology and research into clear, usable communicationWriting has been central to every stage of my work, from academic research and published papers to technical documentation and internal communication. I am comfortable moving between engineers, researchers, and non-technical audiences. Having worked across technology and design, I understand both the systems themselves and the people who use them.
SELECTED PROJECTS
- Publications and Academic Writing.
Author and co-author of peer-reviewed papers on interactive, mood-based music recommendation systems; presented at international conferences and published in ACM and IJHCS journals.
- Technical Documentation.
Created detailed internal documentation for proprietary firmware and signal-processing architectures, ensuring clarity for engineers and collaborators.
- Presentations and Teaching. Prepared and presented talks, lectures, and course materials on computing fundamentals, data visualization, and music recommendation systems.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
PDF Moodplay: Interactive Music Recommendation based on Artists’ Mood Similarity. Andjelkovic, I.; Parra, D.; and O'Donovan, J. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 2018.PDF Moodplay: Interactive Mood-based Music Discovery andRecommendation. Andjelkovic, I.; Parra, D.; and O'Donovan, J. In Proceedings of the UMAP Conference, 2016. ACM