Bobby Cao TopDoc Project Pre-Proposal

TopDoc

Background

Medical education involves repetition of concepts over years until it becomes second nature, just like a language. In order to have scholars or those practicing in the field brush up on their medical knowledge or even learn new concepts, then a mobile application will have to be developed. Instead of books and tedious readings, this application can utilizes puzzles, games, or quizzes to promote fun and interactive learning.

Executive Summary

A mobile application can be very useful since a lot of people have smart phones and if they want to learn whenever they are free they can just turn on their phone and they are a few taps away. The application can include fun and interactive games that promotes learning. Along with that, a series of puzzles will be useful, so that anyone that is going to be applying their medical knowledge soon can apply their knowledge in a controlled and safe setting. Also of course for those who want the most straightforward way of learning there can be quizzes of medical terms and concepts. After the user takes the quiz we can implement an algorithm based on their score to tell user they should learn more in a particular area. This application can be done in either Android via Android SDKs and the use of Java, iOS via iOS SDKs and C/C#, or both.

Goals

  • Creation of games
  • Creation of puzzles
  • Creation of quizzes
  • implement algorithm to track user learns and show where they need improvement.
  • Have an intuitive and fun application

Viability Analysis

The most difficult part of developing this application is that we are not experts in the medical field. So we will need a database of medical concepts and facts. Another difficulty is  just how to apply medical concepts into a game and puzzle since that will require a lot of thinking and creativity.

Risks and Rewards

A risk is that since this application is created by purely computer science students, we do not really know  how deep we want the users to know the concept. Also there is a risk for having incorrect information or having information misinterpreted and of course for a person practicing in the field this possibly can mean major harm to others. However, the reward is this can be a great application that millions of people in the medical field can utilize to learn or brush up in medical concepts during their free time and on the go. Of course this will mean better doctors as well.

Closing

Learning medical concepts can be a chore, with a mobile application learn concepts can be intuitive and fun. Also interactive learning promotes deeper understanding of a concept as well. Millions of people in the medical field can use this and in turn become better in their field.

Bobby Cao Peanut Pal Project Pre-Proposal

Peanut Pal

Background

Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) is an emerging strategy for tackling severe food allergies, mostly for younger children. However, it takes a lot of patience and documentation. In order to tackle this issue there is a need for a voice application that tells the child/user to take the medication and not exercise over 2 hours after taking the medication. A system that could be created for this is a mobile application that notifies the patient to take the medicine, document the time the patient took the medicine, and then notify them when it is safe to exercise. The application can help the patient avoid constantly documenting the OIT and constantly timing themselves.

Executive Summary

Using a mobile device rather than a voice controlled speaker is preferred because both devices do have voice recognition and voice speaking capabilities. Of course a phone is not tethered to a power source constantly  so it would be better for on the go use, for example, if the patient is in school. There are multiple APIs that can be used for the mobile app. Also it needs to be very child friendly so instead of having a text notification there can be a voice notification and that can be utilized via APIs or pre-recorded notification voice used as like a ringtone. Then track when the patient taken the medication and automatically log that into the phone. Also the log could be shared between other devices so parents could see. After that have another notification to say that the patient can exercise. There should be a parental mode so a child cannot config any dosages or anything. This application can be done in either Android via Android SDKs and the use of Java, IOS via IOS SDKs and C/C#, or both.

Goals

  • Voice Notifications
  • Time tracking
  • Dose Tracking
  • Log time and dosage
  • Sharing of logs
  • Accelerometer tracking to see if the patient is exercising before the 2 hour period

Viability Analysis

Important difficulties include no way to actually validate if the child actually takes the dose or if the child takes the correct dosage. This is the most difficult part however, with creative ideas like maybe having a video recording from the phone during which the child can take the dose can definitely validate it.  Another possible difficulty is that the notifications will not be heard, so if there is a way to override that in some form.

Risks and Rewards

A risk is that a child can ignore or miss the dosage time. So in order to overcome that there might have to be a system of contacting the patient’s emergency contacts to warn them and in turn warn the patient. Also another risk is over-dosage but that can be solved possibly via using a video recording. The reward is that this app can be the forefront of OIT and can lead more people with peanut allergies to successfully go through OIT.

Closing

This is an app that can be used to improve and perhaps save many lives. If the application can be developed with children in mind then it can be childproof and be a great application for all people that undergo OIT to use.

Bobby Cao Interactive Digital History of Antigua Pre-Proposal

Interactive Digital History of Antigua

Background

The project is about introducing scholars, tourist, and others that are interested in visiting Antigua,  a Caribbean island, or learning about its rich Antiguan and Caribbean histories and the Antigua mills. So people will learn about Antigua and the Caribbean region’s unique and particular histories through a map interface which will include photos and text for people to learn. Currently there are no comprehensive digital/online resources that present the history of these mills in an aesthetically pleasing or engaging way.

In order to solve this problem this can be done a few ways. In order to to aesthetically pleasing the underlying map needs to be colorful and include the right amount of detail in the map that is not too overbearing for the user but at the same time not too lacking. Either the team working on this project can create the map, get the map off of Google Maps with some edits or get a drawing of the map with ideal level of details. Then the team will be able to create a database to store all the needed photos of Antigua and the mills along with all the need factual text. Along with this there needs to be the development of an intuitive User Interface so that the users can navigate the map and learn without frustration. Navigation would include the mouse and the map will move in response to the mouse movement.

The environment this system would be used would be on a website on a web browser. I mobile application would be useful but for this project proposal, the following proposed system would be too cluttered on a mobile screen and there would have to be a consideration of application size as well which might hinder the amount of information stored. Also navigation will have to be replanned as it might get unintuitive.

 

Executive Summary

For the problem identified above, the most best solution would be creating a web application which has a map interface which includes  an intuitive and interactive user interface. So my idea for this is to have a detail colorful map (perhaps hand drawn or made via a program) filled with important locations, areas, and streets. Along with that we have to make an area, depending on its importance, more detailed. Then apply a user interface which includes buttons, textboxes, photos and etc. So based on using the provided database of information (stated in project proposal), once a user clicks on a button that is over a particular area, the user will see photos of the area which will include mills or any other important locations. Then the user can read more about the mills, the location or any other facts provided from the database). Along with the user interface, the map has to be navigable so the map has to be zoom in so the user can be encompassed in a large expansive map (which can be useful to tourists). In order to accomplish that, I think a few user control options will have to be implemented, for example, the ability to move the map via, mouse, keyboard and etc.  This will provide an comprehensive and visually appealing online resource for people to use. To promote the web application, we will promote this on campus to students and professors. This is a valid solution because it puts the user base in mind. People love interactivity and visuals in an application. So making this as visually appealing and intuitive as possible the user can be able to come back to this and learn. Also this web application will be simplistic so the user is not overwhelmed and the the user can  able to learn what they want to learn.  

Goals

  • Create a colorful and detailed map
  • Make map navigable
  • Add multiple ways to control movement of the map
  • add user interface overlaid on map
  • Have functional buttons
  • WHen the user clicks on the button, display images and facts about the certain location
    • Have the ability to learn more by displaying more information
  • Make the web application visually appealing and simplistic at the same time

Viability Analysis

This project can be accomplished by developing the application and interface through Java, Servlet, and JSP. There will most likely be the use of SQL to handle the given database (if large enough). So development of the actual application is accomplishable in a fair amount of time using Java and GUI skills learned throughout the semesters. The real challenge is actually having the website up and running. To have this up and running we can use a web server such as Apache or Bucknell’s servers. Another constant is that we cannot load all the information and graphics all at once on the web page because it will hinder the application’s performance and prolong initial loading time. Another difficulty will be how we would want the the map, do we want to use an already rendered map of Antigua or create one using a third party software or by hand.

Risks and Rewards

Some risks that we could take is actually have an artist (either a professional or a student)  draw the map of the area and we could use that as the map. The risk would be areas of the map might not be drawn to scale, drawn to our liking, or not visually appealing to an number of people and of course that would be a waste of resources. But the reward (if everything goes well) is that the map is very visually  appealing and it includes all the detail we wanted and it stands out compare than using  google maps.

Another risk would be that the website would not have a lot of traffic, however with the right exposure especially though students and professors this will not be a problem.

I noticed that in the proposal that the project has a very similar idea and concept to a similar map interface for Mount Vernon. We as a team will have to be careful in not copying or utilizing any ideas that they have in full to avoid copyright issues. This is good because we can ultiple some of our creativity for this project.

Closing

This project is can be accomplished without much use of resources nor much learning of new material. The only thing that needs learning of new material is using web servers and clients to make this web application running. But it will be worth it because it will be a useful tool that can be used in a classroom setting or used to learn and explore the area of Antigua  before visiting. It can also look very visually appealing and that can lend itself to me promoted and used more widely. Since there are not a comprehensive online applications like this to learn about Antigua, this is a worthwhile project.