He received his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Visual Cognition and Human Performance. Walter is one of six principal investigators of the multi-disciplinary Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE), a long-standing National Institute on Aging funded center dedicated to ensuring that the benefits of technology can be realized by older adults. His research interests include how humans perform and learn to master complex tasks (especially tasks with safety-critical consequences), how age influences perceptual and cognitive abilities vital to the performance of these tasks, and how technological interventions can improve the wellbeing and cognitive functioning of older adults.