Category: Uncategorized

Background

In the modern world, data is everything. From farming to space exploration, there are few industries that do not rely on large amounts of data, and furthermore the representation of large data visually. One of the most common places for consumers to find data visualizations, however, is in news articles. As data becomes an ever more important facet of life, more and more news organizations are delving into the realm of data visualization. At this point, with so many things being represented, however, there has been very little study done into the reactions people have emotionally to the data visualizations.

Using new libraries that involve webcams and other sensors, however, may allow for programs to read (and possibly adapt to) the reactions that users have to the data they are viewing. By incorporating such technology into web pages that contain visualizations, companies would be able to further understand how the data being portrayed is affecting their user base. There is currently no method for gathering and utilizing such data, however, leaving the space open to innovation.

Executive Summary

By far the most common place for consumers to run across data visualizations is on the web. As such, the most extensive platform to pull data from would be within a web-based library that could utilize the computer’s webcam to analyze the emotions of the user as they are viewing a webpage-based data visualization. Because the goal of the system is to be able to actively gauge whether the user is looking at a visualization and then examine their emotional reaction, it will have to know when the user is actually looking at the visualization and be able to recognize when the user’s gaze has shifted, so that it can stop collecting emotional data. This will keep the collection to only data that actually pertains to the desired state, and means that there does not have to be someone who will pull only relevant data after the fact.

Once the data is collected, there will be a suite of visualizations and analysis that can then be applied to that data, which will help news organizations to further understand the impact of their data representations and improve them both in the future and in real-time, allowing for more effective representations and displays. By giving such a tool to news organizations and companies, we will be enabling them to create more meaningful graphics and information in the future.

Viability Analysis

There are lots of issues that we will come across, the first of which will be recognizing the position that a user is examining on the screen and recognizing when it is or is not a data visualization. Another issue that will be run into will be the actual recognition of emotions through the sensors that are available, and to associate that emotion with the currently viewed data visualization. Finally, we will need to figure out how the data can be best put into other visualizations so that it can be utilized by news organizations.

Risks and Rewards

The first and foremost of the issues associated with this project are primarily involving the privacy of the subjects. So long as there is a camera fixed on them gathering data, there is the possibility of sacrificing the user’s privacy. As such, all data involved in the system must be encrypted. Another, slightly more worrying risk of this project is the potential for its use in emotional manipulation. Because news organizations would be privy to the emotional states of their users as they view given data visualizations, it would then be more possible for them to figure out how to manipulate their viewers, opening the door to ethical dilemmas.

The rewards that could come from this, however, could revolutionize the news and data visualization industries significantly. By being able to adapt how data is represented based on users’ emotional reactions, they could learn to represent data in ways that will more meaningfully convey the information it represents.

Closing

In designing a web library to analyze emotion we could potentially unlock a whole new level of personalized informational media – data visualizations could potentially be manipulated to normalize people’s emotions and allow for more neutral representations – paving the way for a world of better, more personal information

Background

In the modern world, everything we do can be shared with our friends, family, and acquaintances through the use of social media. This allows us to share ideas and thoughts seamlessly with those we care about. There currently is no good place, however, to discover, book, and share travel ideas. This is where Excursion finds its market. Creating a socially-interconnected travel platform would allow people to share their travel plans and ideas with their friends and family. Essential to such a system is an easy-to-use uploading feature and efficient backend. Thus, the true problem to be solved in this project is the creation and streamlining of a system that is friendly to users as well as quick and responsive.

Executive Summary

For Excurvant, as with any social platform, one of the most important features is accessibility to its users. Even further, in the modern world, smartphones and laptops are ubiquitous. The one application that is common to all of these devices is the web browser. Because this is an application that will need to be accessible on all sorts of devices, the clear choice for a platform is a web app, allowing any browser to use the application (therefore gaining the largest possible audience). As has been seen with previous social applications, one of the hardest parts of such a platform is gaining users. To make it as easy as possible for someone to sign up, the application will allow users to authenticate through common social accounts, such as their existing Google or Facebook account. This will make it easy for new members to join and begin sharing with their friends/family. To create the necessary infrastructure for such a web app, we will need to create a backend (Node.JS was specified) that includes a server for the application itself, as well as a database for any trips and sharing relationships created by the application. This will allow the application to manage and track relationships between its users, perhaps even suggesting who they might like to share trips with or create a feed of users who have shared similar trips. On the UI side, we will need to design an interface that is fast and easy to use – most likely meaning that we will have to make several iterations of the user interface to improve on each iteration.

Viability Analysis

The tasks involved with this project are certainly attainable, but it is by no means a minor project. The design of a user interface alone is no small feat, and there will need to be a significant infrastructure put in place to handle the requests associated with a reactive web application. The first task will be creating a server with which we can serve the necessary javascript and html for an application – this should be fairly quick to set up, however, we will also need to decide on and set up a database that is scalable for the application once it reaches full load which could take longer to do. Second, we would need to set up an API (Application Programming Interface) for communicating between the web application and server from a user’s browser. This will take a good deal longer as the use cases for the product will need to be flushed out and pathways designed/created to serve the application. The next major task would involve designing the user interface that can be then created in a given Javascript framework – this is almost guaranteed to be the longest and most involved as it will involve designing a user interface and iterating on each design to improve usability.

Risks and Rewards

This is a unique application as there is currently no popular application that allows its users to plan and share trips with friends and family, which could aid people in the planning of future vacations and trips. On the other hand, as is true with any data-based application, it could open the users to potential theft if their trip data is gained by a malicious party, so any data must be kept securely wherever it is held, as well as transmitted in a secure fashion.

Closing

This application could be absolutely revolutionary for the travel industry. It has become clear in recent years that there is a massive potential for any social application because it lets people integrate the platform into their lives, increasing its value to them. As such, the application has huge potential to gain a large following and user base, making it an extremely valuable idea.

Trip Sharing Platform

Background

This project was raised initially to solve the problem of tracking national parks that the client has visited. Later on the client expended the problem to a trip sharing platform through which users can create, share, and complete lists of places to visit and is not limited to national parks any more. The final deliverable should be a fully functional platform that can be used to log and share places as well as potentially creating lists of places for users to interact and compete with each other.

 

Executive Summary

To solve the problem identified above, I propose that the solution should at least be a mobile app, and ideally also a web application to complement the mobile version. The mobile app should include location service to enable users to check in at different places. The app also need to integrate Google Maps and utilizes its APIs to retrieve popular places, as well as allowing users to login through their Facebook and/or Gmail accounts so that they can interact with their friends much easier. The mobile version is necessary because users need to check-in at places they visit, and we cannot expect them to bring a laptop wherever they go. The web application can complement the mobile app to provide a better exploring and viewing experience of trips and lists created by others. The basic structure of this application for both the mobile end and the web will include: a database for users’ account information, back-end algorithms to display the most relevant places/lists, as well as a clean and user-friendly front-end interface that can attract users as a new application.

 

Viability Analysis

This project will be built from scratch, meaning that as a team we need to decide on what languages and frameworks to use, and thus must keep in mind the current knowledge of all team members as well as the learning curve of learning new stuff. This is especially relevant to this project since we might need to develop on Android, iOS, and web, and this can be challenging. I am experienced in Android and web development, but not with iOS. Even though picking up Swift does not seems to be too difficult right now, we still need to keep in mind the time that is required for learning a new language.

 

Risks and Rewards

Currently there is no existing way to track and share places visited. This application can promote the travelling industry as travelling can become more rewarding for some people when they have a checklist to complete or when they are competing with someone else. This application, if in good use, can also give visitors to a local village good recommendations on what are the good attractions and/or restaurants to visit. This can lead to risks when places are trying to advertise through this app, and this risk can be minimized by creating a rating system for places lists and users who are publishing the lists, and by implementing an algorithm that recommends valuable lists wisely.

 

Closing

Overall, this is a fantastic idea and is reasonable to implement given the time and resources constraints. With the proposed features (places logging and sharing, list creating, etc) and external resources (Google Maps, Facebook, Google account) integrated, I can see a successful product that nothing else in the market has in common.

Background

This project involves creating a tool that coordinates volunteers at the Lewisburg pantry. This tool would keep track of volunteer names, level, extent of interest, availability, expectations and training. This tool would also create schedules using these information in a way that prevents volunteer burnouts. It is important to build into this tool the ability to advertise the pantry , increase awareness and the number of volunteers.

 

Executive Summary

A good computational system to solve this problem is database storing all these information but connected to a website available to the  volunteers and pantry operators. The volunteers enter their information, update their availability and the system is able to automatically create/update a schedule. The pantry operators also have access to this information.  Some aspects of the training can also be moved to the website to increase the number of  qualified number of volunteers. The website can also display information about the pantry that could draw interested volunteers and donations.

 

Viability Analysis

This project would require knowledge about website design. Since I’m familiar with many languages it would be easy to improve my JavaScript skills. Database skills are also required. After quickly acquiring/brushing up on these skills, solution to this problem can be easily implemented.

 

Risks and Rewards

Lewisburg is a small place. I envision that most of the volunteers would be older people and the  risk we may run into is an inability of the older volunteers to interact with the designed system. We would have to pay for the domain and the database we would need. A successful implementation of this project would mean giving back to the community for a good cause using my skills.

 

Closing

Investing in an app as a solution to this problem is viable. It is an efficient, fairly uncomplicated way to solve this problem. The resources required to implement this would not cause any serious financial implications.

Background

Bucknell University is a 4-year college in the middle of nowhere. Many events are organized by different student organizations such as parties, games, dinners, talks, concerts  etc on campus at different times and locations to maintain a healthy social life . There are usually posters advertising some events and students usually have to take pictures or enter events into their google calendar in order to keep track (personal experience). It’s important to have a central location of all these events. For events available to outsiders, more specific location information should be provided as well as useful information that can help them navigate the campus (e.g parking locations).

 

Executive Summary

A good solution to this problem is a mobile phone application that contains/is regularly updated with  all events on campus. It has event details such as time and location. Google Maps can be added to the app to provide directions for visitors. This app can also be used to push urgent information to the student body.  Events would be pushed to app and students can select the events they’re interested in and would receive reminders about the events.

 

Viability Analysis

It is possible to build this app but it’s important to determine the system by which the school events get added, the different level of access etc. Another important decision would be to select a platform: android/IOS. This project would require close interaction with the CAP center to learn about the ways events are organized and advertised. We would also have to work with Public Safety to learn about provisions  created for visitors on campus. This app would probably require online access so, it’s important that the “bucknell_guests” WiFi access is always available and working effectively when visitors are on campus. To create this app, knowledge about mobile computing is necessary.

 

Risks and Rewards

If this is accepted and adopted by the campus community, this would be a game changer in the way social life is organized on campus. As final year students this is an opportunity to leave a legacy in a useful way. This project wouldn’t require too much financial commitment but would require time.  Also, the school may not be in support of some events posted on the app/students may be unwilling to post their events if the app is policed by the school. It’s important to find a compromise.

 

Closing

The company should consider investing in this app because most of the tools required for building the app are open source. It’s also a fairly uncomplicated solution with a possible large impact.

Financial Accounting Gamification

Background

Much like the medical learning proposal, students in the financial track have a problem surrounding their way of learning. Studies have proven that learning in a more fun, engaging environment yields better results. Traditional learning methods are tedious and are surrounded by a sense of dread. Students trying to learn via these conventional methods are less likely to absorb what they’re doing, and have a worse chance of even engaging in the first place.

 

Executive Summary

A solution to this problem would be a gamified course that would run in parallel to a financial course that the students are actually attending. Games would be well thought out with the faculty involved in the design process to ensure that they are up to the standards of the physical course. An alternative would be a mobile / desktop application that does not rely on a corresponding finance course, rather a gamified general finance learning process that helps people of all backgrounds develop knowledge to gain interest in the field. Either version would solve the problem of tedious learning practices currently in rotation that are not compatible with most students / users.

 

Viability Analysis

Building on both mobile and web platforms could prove difficult given the time frame proposed. A proof of concept for both would be more viable, or a more in depth version on one platform could work too. Working with someone knowledgeable of the field would be required in order to create an app that serves its intended purpose.

 

Risks and Rewards

If the app were to be integrated within a real course, we run the risk of the platform not living up to the standards of the other, more conventional learning practices. If completed successfully, the app would make financial knowledge more accessible for all walks of life.

 

Closing

There has been a trend of gamifying classically mundane and tedious tasks, which I think is a move in the right direction if done the right way. These games must really push for constant engagement, because often the allure is the novelty of it, which inevitably wears off.

Pantry Volunteering Dilemma

Background

The Pantry is having a hard time with three things – volunteer retainment, volunteer monitoring, and volunteer signups. There are places all over America where people go hungry, and Lewisburg is one of them. Without volunteers to help feed people that come to places like The Pantry, there is no way for everyone to be served food. As of now, there is a decent rate of burnout regarding current volunteers, and The Pantry is having a hard time keeping track of new signups, specifically categorizing frequency and level of interest. A platform for the pantry could solve these problems, making volunteering more interesting and engaging, as well as making signups more streamlined and enticing. Hopefully this can solve all of the problems that The Pantry is having.

 

Executive Summary

A social, profile-based web application with facebook integration would be the perfect solution for the problems The Pantry is having. Every volunteer (that creates an account) would have a profile on the app, and that profile would solve a number of problems. It would help The Pantry keep track of who volunteers when, and with that information, would be able to assess retention rate of these volunteers and frequency of new signups. Making it social would help reduce volunteer burnout because, let’s face it, people love letting other people know that they are volunteering for those less fortunate. Adding a facebook and/or facebook integration would just make that sharing aspect a little easier.

 

Viability Analysis

The most difficult thing about this proposal would be on the user end of it, ensuring that people use it the way they should. If that doesn’t happen, it will essentially be useless at accomplishing the goals stated above. Creating a database of users with a log of each time they volunteer would not be difficult, and I can’t imagine building a UI for it to be difficult either. Coming up with a way to tastefully display users’ involvement, if available to other volunteers, could prove a design challenge, but would be manageable.

 

Risks and Rewards

A risk would be creating this platform that could go untouched by many volunteers that either don’t know about it, or don’t feel the need to spend more of their free time on something, considering they’re already volunteering. However, if successful, it could drive more volunteers and help spread word about the cause in general.

 

Closing

Coming up with the right level of engagement for this platform is essential. At its most basic, this will be a database with a way to display each volunteer and their frequency of volunteering via a graph over time or something of the sort. At its most engaged, it would be a platform for users to track their own involvement as well as others, and help them feel good about the work they’re doing.

TopDoc

Background

Learning medical skills / developing medical knowledge is like studying for a geography test on steroids. It requires a lot of repetitive, habit-building strategies that, as of now, require books, flashcards, and other conventional studying practices. The issue with this is that these conventional methods of studying / learning are tedious and not terribly proactive. A solution would be an interactive mobile application designed to make the medical learning process organic and second hand. This solution would solve the problem by taking place of less effective methods, making the learning process second nature. It could be used by anyone from hobbyists to aspiring professionals, as long as they have the required tech (iPhone in this instance). Ideally, students or the like would be able to cut out the books or other methods and learn via this app without even realizing how effective it is.

 

Executive Summary

An iOS app will present to users engaging games designed to develop their knowledge of medical terms and practices. Using short, targeted, and semi-frequent activities geared toward teaching medical skills that would otherwise be learned through methods aforementioned, users would develop knowledge through osmosis, in the most painless way possible. Multiple minigames would exist in order to keep engagement fresh and active, avoiding repetition. There would be repetition in concepts and topics of learning focus, but the repetition of each minigame would be kept to a minimum. The goal of these games is to cover all the bases of basic medical learning that would otherwise be achieved by other learning methods. Another aspect to the app would be the gamification of the learning process, rewarding users for high frequency engagement and higher achievement levels. This would help retain users and keep them motivated to learn

 

Viability Analysis

The two biggest pain points in the development of this app is going to be creating algorithms that drive the right frequency and type of content and generating the content in the first place. Generating the content will be difficult because, as non medical professionals or students, we will not know what would be helpful to exist in the app. A pragmatic approach to this would be joining with a knowledgeable resource during the design of the content. Creating algorithms would be the other tricky part, not only knowing the best times to request attention from the user, but also knowing when to revisit concepts that were already visited. Though it will require the most technical resources, it is definitely a viable aspect of the development process.

 

Risks and Rewards

Risks would be creating an app that claims to replace conventional studying or learning methods but falls short, potentially angering users with higher expectations. If successful, we could help make medical education accessible to a lot more people than to whom it is currently accessible.

 

Closing

I think this is a really cool idea, though right now is limited to a niche market. Expanding it to draw in more people interested in fields or things within the range of the medical field could prove fruitful, and could help this app grow to touch many people’s’ pockets.

Background

This project is to create a museum exhibit that would teach children about different topics in physics in a easy/fun way. The children should be able to make a selection of what topic they’re interested in from a list of Newtonian physics, electricity, magnetism, sound waves, EM spectrum etc. This exhibit has to be designed in a way that the children are fully involved in the learning process so, the exhibit has to be interactive and should require multiple actions from the children.

 

Executive Summary

My proposed solution is to create an application that can run on a device with a huge screen. This application would be heavily graphically oriented with the occasional  use of sound. It would require actions from the children that can be simulated by touching, making a sound and typing. Also, there would be a system that provides rewards (e.g in form of points) to children who complete different sections.

 

Viability Analysis

This project would require knowledge of mobile computing which I’m currently taking a class in. We’ll also need a resident physics specialist (from the physics department) that would help understand many of these physics concepts. It would be important that the team is knowledgeable about graphics and  how to make the app aesthetically appealing to the students. We should focus on just a few set of topics for the first versions of the app so much time is not wasted on just the physics. Different iterations of the app would include more physics topics.

 

Risks and Rewards

This would require lots of time, learning new topics  and re-learning old topics but it’s good for the future of the world. It’s important to introduce science to children early and in an easy understandable way. This would also help the team explore a foreign sphere of implementation (physics, museum, children).

 

Closing

Investing in an app as a solution to this problem is viable. It is an efficient, fairly uncomplicated way to solve this problem. Most resources required to implement this are open source so, this solution would not cause any serious financial implications.

Excurvant UI/UX

Background

Excurvant is a start-up company trying to deliver the best online social travel community that combines discovering, booking, and sharing. Excurvant currently has a website set up but still requires UI/UX refinements. The problem this project is solving is to provide a better UI/UX as well as better sharing methods and personalized experience. This project will be built on their existing platform and the final deliverable will be user-friendly and personalized, and satisfies other potential requirements of Excurvant.

 

Executive Summary

Currently it is unclear to me how much work Excurvant has already put into making the existing website. Base on what I can see is up and running, it still requires significant amount of back-end development work other than Excurvant’s proposed UI improvements. From the back-end perspective, I propose that we will need a database that can hold user profile, uploaded media, and personalized settings. From the front-end perspective, we need to work on creating user-friendly designs for all features that the platform will offer, as well as performing testings internally and externally to gather user feedbacks and further improve our design. Lastly, our design should be customizable so that each user can have different and personalized experience while using the platform.

 

Viability Analysis

As mentioned in the client’s proposal, the existing website was built with Node.js. I believe that this is the right framework for this project as this is supposed to be a data-driven web application that requires real-time interactions between the front-end and the server. I have learned some Node.js in my previous internship and thus should be able to pick it up and dive into development soon. However, I am still expecting some difficulties in working with databases, keeping user data secure and private, as well as the scalability of the application when more and more people start using it. In addition, choosing the most appropriate deployment platform will require some research and learning before taking the action.

 

Risks and Rewards

Building product for a start-up company is a great responsibility and also a rewarding process. If the project is a success, then it will be delivered to the public and is going to provide people a new way to travel and share. However, a minor mistake in the product such as privacy issue or data losses can affect user experience and might even cause significant consequences on the company’s reputation.

 

Closing

Overall, I think the risks and difficulties can be limited to an accepted level and the positive aspects are dominant. The idea behind this project is unique, and we currently do not have a platform that does the exact same thing. This application will provide travellers a new way to share and communicate with each other, and thus will have a large impact on the market.