Back-End for Google Glass Application

Problem Description

Last year Prof. Alan Cheville and I got a couple of pairs of Google Glass and had a couple of students begin development of a context-detection and information retrieval app. Another student worked on this over the summer, too. Based on some identifier, either a QR code or your location right now, the app retrieves some pre-loaded information and presents it to the user. Right now, most of this works to a minimal level.

What we need is a back-end for this service that allows users to create, upload, and store information that can be retrieved by Glass. This includes some security and authentication aspects, as well. Currently it is done by hand.

In addition to the back-end, the back-end and app need to be boxed up and made available to the world in some reasonable manner so that other folks can download and deploy the system.

We had 2 use cases in mind for this project. 1) in-the-lab equipment tutorials. Don the glass, scan the QR code, and get a walk-through of how to use the o-scope. 2) A techy way of getting prospective students around campus. Don the glass, walk around campus and ask where you are. “OK Glass, tell me more”

Project Goals

• Clean up and “harden” the glass app so that it is ready to go out to the public
• Create a back-end system to create and manage the information retrieved by the system. 
• Push the system out to the world as an OSS project. (BSD license?)
• Create a web page to show off the system; possibly some branding of the system.

Constraints

• To be developed with client.

Criteria

• To be developed with client.

Resources

• I can supply 2 pairs of Google Glass.
• Basic knowledge of codebase.
• PCs for development, if needed.

Licensing

• I’m leaning towards the BSD license, but that can be discussed with the team.

Impact

I think there are some really neat aspects of this project in the context of attracting technology-related students to be Bucknell – this is going off of the prospective student use case. In the bigger picture, we’re planning to pester Google to donate some more pairs of Glass and we’re interested in working with admissions on putting them to use. It may be something we deploy in engineering first.  On a smaller scale, we’re looking to deploy this for lab equipment instruction in our department. In both cases, the cool factor and hopefully usefulness factors are quite high.

Point of Contact

Prof. Michael Thompson, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.