#idm702

[hellojunipermoon]

Info.lloxx

Ever been lost in a city or town? Wanted to know more about the area within your current and nearby surroundings? Need a quick battery recharge? Or would you just like to know what time it is?

If you answered yes to any of the above… you need to find an Info.lloxx at a location near you! 

Over time I had thought about what could be helpful and often used within a city and town. I came up with an informational booth. Yes, they already exist but they are just a bit outdated; so my invention was to create a new prototype that many people could use, whether to get information or just play traveling games via Smartphone or Tablet, that connects to the informational booth. I wanted to design something that would be fun but also very helpful within a community.

Informational booths are not exactly in high demand, but we do find them in every city to help provide assistance to visitors and locals. They are either run by people and some run by electronic assistance. Currently many are outdated and need a revamp.

I had titled this prototype Info.lloxx, most of the titles I kept coming up with already were taken; but in the end I liked this title the most. 

What is it? The Info.lloxx is a new prototype of an interactive informational booth that would be distributed across cities and towns to provide local assistance for the community and visitors.

What can it do? The Info.lloxx provides

Local land maps and a directional maps

Metro maps and also bus & train time information

Business listings

Suggested lists of places to visit

Provides Historical information particular to its location

Provides audio assistants, for those with trouble reading

Provides a 15 minute recharge – electrical sockets will stop providing an energy source after 15 minutes and will start working again after plug is removed when usage is done.

Free Wi-Fi within a specific radius

Provides information on free weekly local community events, by using a bi-weekly calendar  

Provides a large digital clock, similar to a clock tower

Corresponds with a smartphone & tablet application

Tag your name or draw on the walls of the display. The drawings will be wiped out every few hours.

With some of these features provided, there is a large possibility that a few of the features would be abused. The prototype still needs to be worked on further; there are a few concerns that need to be worked through to make a better, helpful display.

  How does the phone and tablet application work?

With the app you can create an avatar

Check-in at each Info.lloxx and earn points and badges  - The more times you check-in the more points you earn. If one keeps checking into the same location they earn fewer points than when they had first visited that particular location.

Design races with your friends by using the Info.lloxx as checkpoints.  – This could become a large worldly travel race depending on who creates the race and who is up for the challenge.

View Leaderboards

Find nearest Info.lloxx locations

How does it run/work?

The Info.lloxx runs off of Solar Energy by using the most efficiently designed, heated Solar Panels that will be durable to last through forever changing seasons

Clocks run by LED lighting

Touch screens will be designed with durable glass to last through seasons.

The interactive screens will use touch screen technology

Drawing walls will use touch screen technology

The touch sensory is still undecided of what type to use.

  In this image design (below) you can see that all screens will be displayed on every side of the structure. The structure also includes a sheltered area. The roof of the structure is designed mostly on an angle so that snow & leaves do not sit on top or cover of the solar panels. Note: This is only one design of the main prototype and will have smaller structures for various locations.  (Please excuse the awful rough sketch.)

Model 1:

[omg-candice-world]

Thermal B- The New Future for Breast Cancer

I thought to myself: what makes an app “cool”?

User interface and design is unique and easy to use

Accurate and relevant information

Innovative technology

Although these are very general themes and things developers and designers should consider when creating an app, the truth is it’s not always executed properly. This concept was what I really wanted to consider when designing my app, something ground breaking in technology yet valued by everyone.

In the midst of breast cancer awareness in November with campaigns like Movember and Hot Guy mammogram ads, and the pink ribbon promoted constantly and everywhere, a thought suddenly came to my head. Why not create an app to detect breast cancer? In the world we live in and all the talk in finding a cure for cancer, a baby step to reaching that goal is now in the works. The future is now here. Introducing the Thermal B, a new app that will scan and diagnose for breast cancer. The app uses the bar code scanner to scan for early symptoms and even recognizes the problems for the user.

    When I was doing extensive research to find out on the technology behind the scanning process I thought it was interesting that they use something similar in the know error- a process and kit to diagnose for early symptoms for breast cancer. This will eliminate the chances of getting information mixed up and cross contamination, all factors that might mislead patients with devastating consequences. In the US alone approximately 2000 women are misinformed and told they have breast cancer or don’t, which will ultimately make it worse for the patient as it may be too late when they realize their problems. I liked the fact that they use the bar code because it represented an individual status, all their data would be stored on the bar code.

The problems will be illustrated in the thermal heating on the next screen followed by medically trained specialists that cater around the problems as indicated. The status of the specialist will have their social media contact information including: facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, as well as their brief biography so users can select who they want visit. The thermal heating process is similar to what is currently used for thermal camera to check body temperatures. If there are irregularities the colours change. Currently thermal heating in doctor’s offices have not advanced to detect for more abstract symptoms but they have been used to identify cysts.

Does all this sound too good to be true? Well now we have to dig into the big questions on all the problems. Well would there be? The major one to address would be to get the medical team on board. If an app of this stature were to be created there might be a chance of losing doctors, which goes back to the theory that technology is taking over human jobs. Even if say all the technology works behind the process, a question would be if the user trusts it before trusting a human. Sure it saves time to quickly scan and have a report done instantly but would there be enough people to really trust it as opposed to their normal routine of having a doctor examine their diagnosis. One factor that should probably be mentioned would of course be money. Lots of money would be needed to support the technology behind Thermal B and to also provide specialists and get the approval.

Ideally I think this app would break medical and technological worlds that could potentially save lives and create a revolutionary solution to overcome a problem the world is still facing. Looking at the sources when researching I had more idea on how the product would be designed as opposed to all the factors and problems it might stumble upon, not just design related but the functionality. 

[angelarraiz]

App idea to avoid the sun when you travel

For those users who travel long distances by car, bus or train and want to know which side of the car or train is best to sit to avoid the sun this is the right app.

 This app will work for passengers who travel by bus or train and help them to select the best seat (left or right) to avoid the sun, will work for passengers traveling by car who are not driving as well. For drivers the app will show the best hour to avoid the sun between two cities or two places.

  Why create this app? People who spend large amounts of time traveling are at risk for sun damage on their face and body. When the sun is shining directly into driver's eyes, it leaves a glare that may cause risks to the driver. This glare increases the number of traffic accidents due to drivers may be temporarily blinded by the sun. Passenger who spend large amount of time exposed to the sun can feel a terrible headache caused from the heat of the sun.

How the app will work? First you will select if you are a passenger or driver followed by your destination:

  Then the app will show the result:

For passengers the app will show the percentage for the left and right side where the sun will be the most part of the time.

For drivers the app will show the best hour to avoid drive into the sun between two points.

  This app could work with Google Maps API that allows developers to integrate Google Maps into their websites or applications and is a free service. To calculate the sun position there is an equation where the position can be determined based on the location and the time of day. Using emerging technologies this could be a great app to be developed and create a great traveling experience!

 Idea by Angel Arraiz

[chenbixin]

My app bases on Personal cloud

What is personal cloud?

Personal Cloud is an emerging technology. It will give people a new user-experience. People can use it to store, sync, access and share their data through the Internet by using smart phone, tablet, TV and PC. If people have personal cloud. by using different devices, people can finish some complicated tasks that can only be done on PC before. These devices can give people better user-experience and they have almost same functions with PC. 

UX - LenovoEMC™ Personal Cloud:

http://iomegacloud.com/landing_page.php

APP-Marketing 

First, customer can save their data to personal cloud. Individuals have a lot of pictures, video and other media information, so they need a lot of storage space. Personal cloud can provide it.

Second, now more and more people come from different place and they work together . They need to share the their work. Personal cloud allow people to share the resources to others.

Last, different people have different job. So people decide which apps they use with their data. People also can choose the app in personal cloud which they want to use.

My app:

For example,  I  want to calculate this function by using smart phone’s simple calculator,it is impossible ,but if I save it to personal cloud with Professional calculator. So personal cloud is not only online storage. People can deal with data when they are using personal cloud. Personal Cloud consists of the server, terminals, applications and personal information. When user releases a command to the terminal, then terminal send it to the server. The server will use the applications to get a result base on the personal information（personal information has already stored on server） . After that, the terminal will receive the result and user will get the result by using web or applications.

Example:

                     Using smart phone to calculate ctg2 = ?

       Save it to personal cloud ( Professional calculator)

                                        Get answer 3

Audience participation:

Background:

Cozy,a personal Cloud you can host, hack and delete Your web apps and your data on your hardware.

Demo: http://cozy.io/

Challenges:

Network speed&Interface and Layout&Safety

Improved without technological:

Now, people always take smart phone to everywhere, because smart phone are easier to carry, but smart phone’s performance cannot catch up with PC. Personal cloud can help small digital device to deal with some tasks that the performance of digital devices is not enough. 

In the future, people may be able to unlock the portable digital devices provided by any places such as library, coffee shop, company, etc. The portable digital device would get personal information from the Personal Cloud. People can continue to work, to study or to play their game. It just likes people can turn on his/her own computer at home or office.

[beccamilz-blog]

Array: A Fashion Mobile Application

So a few weeks ago, I wrote a post regarding an assignment for my Emerging Technologies class in which I had to create a mobile application based in a world where anything was possible. It took me a while to figure out what exactly I would want to create given this opportunity and I thought to myself what do I need assistance with almost everyday. Then it dawned on me, putting together an outfit that is stylish as well as affordable (I am a student after all) in the mornings when I complain that I have ‘Nothing To Wear’. As I did some research I noticed that there are a lot of mobile applications that aid its users in helping them sort and catalogue their closets. Kind of like a modern version of Cher Horowitz outfit coordination computer program from the movie, ‘Clueless’. As this particular app idea has been done to death, I went back to the figurative drawing board to brainstorm another idea. I quickly got bored of doing research and jumped on my Tumblr page to browse through the millions of aesthetically stimulating photos that popped up on my main feed and as well as the blogs I follow. As I came across a beautifully styled outfit worn by Alexa Chung, I thought to myself ‘Where did she get all the pieces to put that outfit together?’ A sudden realization washed over me! I could create an app that answers that very question, and create a way in which for users to know exactly where their favorite celebrity, blogger or fashion icon bought their chic duds. I did a bit more research, and decided that I would (in a perfect world) like to team up with the music-tracking software company Shazam, and expand their company to include my fashion application. So basically a user would hold their mobile device up to any picture online, or to a persons outfit in public, snap a picture and then this outfit would be run through the database. This would involve image recognition software as well as specific ID tags for each item of clothing within the database. The top results found on the app would be the exact brand that the stylish person in question was wearing, then it would also give alternative but similar results for those budget conscious shoppers. As well, it would list the closest stores that carry the various items and list the prices of each. This would involve a GPS tracking software to be coded within the application.  Are the store results too far for you to make the journey? Good thing this fashion app has the stores link and shopping cart already filled for you, and your E-commerce already sorted out (this would be done initially when signing up for the application). 

The main challenges I had with fathoming this application would be the enormous amount of man hours the company would have to put in in order to build a large enough database of clothing to make the application even useful. Another challenge would be getting retail clothing stores on board that have a vast amount of product such as stores like H&M, TopShop and Zara. I think they would love the easy promotion of this application, but once again the collecting of the data would be the biggest challenge of all. 

Overall, I had a really fun time coming up with this fashion mobile application and who knows maybe one day this application will become a reality! 

[profeshinal]

The SCP Experience

Intro

I am interested in the way that emerging technology can power creative storytelling.

I’m talking about more than just making a traditional film or video-game using 3-D animation—though I am a fan of both those mediums.

Following the thread of this project I started to think about wiki generated projects. It’s not necessarily an emerging technology, but it does follow the same kind of rubric of creative freedom, of opening things up to the public and allowing for collective evolution.

So I started thinking about the SCP Foundation (Special Containment Protocols).  It’s essentially a mechanism for creative storytelling, a user generated archive of objects that do not exist. It takes the form of fictional government database full of bizarre and supernatural items that need to be protected from the public. Imagine if the warehouse at the end of ‘Raiders of the Lost Arc’ had an inventory.

Think of it as a kind of massive short-story project. This community of writers have built this wiki and populated with these weird little stories.

It’s an experience that works best on the internet because it’s about discovery.  It’s organized like Wikipedia:  you click on something and then see a link that catches your eye else and then click on that.   

It’s full of weird little discoveries like the Desert-In-A-Can.

I want to create an experience that takes this idea and expands it without diminishing the creative spark that makes it unique.

I want to create an interactive experience that takes these creative threads and follows them to their fullest extent. I want to take these great ideas and make them tactile. And I want to do this using 3-D Imaging, social gaming, transmedia storytelling and augmented reality.

The SCP Experience

Essentially, it’s a social media experience that brings together writers and designers in a collaborative space. You create a profile and sign up as an “Archivist” or a “Technician” (or both).

Archivists are writers they continue to do what they do which is to create the content. A technician’s job is to search the archive for interesting items and then they really create these objects: making 3D templates that get shared with the SCP community—they are then fair game to be downloaded and printed on 3D printers.

The technicians can create their own mockups from scratch or, if they’re neophytes, they can use our in-house 3D animator to pick from a library of shapes and create something a bit more simple. The point is that it is completely open-source and free-as-in-beer.

For the animation tool, I picture a software similar to Google SketchUp. A simple out-of-the-box 3D modeling software that allows the user to see vector lines and stretch 2D shapes into 3D

There’s no limit to how many images can be associated with a given entry. There could be 10,000 blueprints for Desert-In-A-Can. The SCP community can rate and share the designs, with the most popular one becoming the article’s featured image.

Don’t have a 3D printer. That’s ok, you can use augmented reality to manipulate a digital representation of the object. Done using an HTML 5 canvas. You use a toolkit to create a series of AR markers that correspond to a transformation matrix that you design or create using a generator. You can see an example here.

Another way to take advantage of the key story points offered by SCP is to think about how we can use emerging technology to bring these fictional objects into the “real world.”

One way to do this is with the use of augmented reality. Say part of the entry on the site includes a specific location you can download onto Google maps. When you visit the location in person you take out your phone or Google Glass and point it at the specific location mentioned in the article: a deserted warehouse on the edge of the city. You instantly get an augmented reality image or experience. Imagine a photorealistic picture of after-effects of a Desert-In-A-Can experiment overlaid on that very spot (done using Unity a 3D development tool used for gaming). Though many Augmented Reality apps use AR codes, more complex ones use your phone’s internal GPS, digital compass and motion sensors to detect where you’re pointing.

With no financial or technological barriers it would be cool to find a way to create an augmented reality experience without the need for AR markers in order to create a truly surprising and spontaneous (as I mentioned, they are already here some extent, but I mean a really fluid reliable method of panorama mapping and tracking) .

My aim here is to merge new technologies in an engaging transmedia storytelling experience.

Challenges

The most obvious challenge here is cost. The experience is asking a lot from users at this point, their time, their money, their 3D Printing Materials.

I actually think that the demand for effort is the least costly thing here. People already devote a huge amount of effort to SCP for no recompense. With 3D printers becoming more common (and more affordable) the era of template artists—people who sketch the raw data and allow the printers to do the manufacturing-- is about to begin.

With regards to augmented reality: that is a sketchy proposition because the current mechanism for object manipulation is not great (at a consumer level anyway). It requires a great deal of programming knowledge to create a good experience.

I feel like the aspect of this experience that would be cost-prohibitive is pure man-hours, not technology.

I don’t think something like this is truly outside the realm of possibility. Brands are experimenting with a variety of media for multiplatform storytelling. There is a market for this type of thing. According to a Guardian article people are already starting to bootleg templates for gaming figurines (Warhammer, or whatever) and my experience scratches a very similar itch for sci-fi storytelling.   

People want to be told engaging stories. That will never change. It’s important as interactive designers and producers that we always remember that technology is always there to serve the story, never the other way around.

Sources

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/jan/26/pirate-bay-3d-printing

http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/11/augmented-reality-real-world/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEFH_r_X7kY

http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/webgl/jsartoolkit_webrtc/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev7PN04D56M

[andyramjam]

Project One Stop: Helping TTC riders one download at a time

The TTC is a service that riders have known and loved to hate for as far back as most of us can remember. With no signs of usage declining and the number of metropass users rising on an annual basis, efficiencies need to be found. On top of this, there are several other issues that TTC riders need to worry about when it comes to using the service. There have been many reports through various media outlets of the customer service experience being below what some would expect from a paid service.There have also been many issues with security aboard trains and buses. The TTC themselves have also been a victim to fraud as some dishonest users continue to find ways to produce fake metropasses. What if there was an app that could make life easier for the riders of the TTC while also helping to create a safer and more efficient system? Well I sit before you today with a proposal for an app that intends to accomplish these very goals: Project One Stop. 

   The goal of Project One Stop would be to create an App that would work on most mobile devices (iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry). Once users have downloaded the app, they would create an account and then be able to begin downloading a digital metropass every month. This app would see users automatically downloading a digital QR code that would be their metropass for the month. They would no longer need to worry about losing the small piece of plastic as their pass would be tied to an ID. This is great for the user because they would no longer need to go to the subway station to purchase a pass. They would no longer have to interact with TTC booth workers, who as previously mentioned leave a lot to be desired from a customer service point of view. From the TTC's point of view, they could potentially reduce the number of fake metropasses in circulation as a QR code would be much harder to fake. They could also reduce their operating costs, as they would not need to pay as many people to work the booths.

The other key component to this app would be its security features. There are often cases when passengers are in a dangerous situation but cannot pull the Passenger Assist Alarm because the source of the danger would see them calling for help. With the app, the passenger would be able to discreetly alert transit control of the problem so that steps could be taken to send help. The precision of the distress call would also mean that the TTC would be wasting less time trying to figure out who pulled the alarm. Also, since the user ID would be tied to the call, there is no risk of users abusing this function. 

  There are two underlying technologies that will help push this initiative forward. The first is the use of mobile applications. The mobile application will need to be developed with strong security settings so that it could not be hacked. It must be a mobile application because ideally this would be something that users have on them at all times. The other underlying technology would be the use of QR codes. Scanners would need to be installed on buses and at stations in order to make this all work. QR codes are currently used for plane tickets quite effectively so there is no reason that they could not work in this context. 

  This project does currently face a few challenges.  The first is that in order for the safety features to work on subways, cellular reception will need to be added. The TTC has said previously that plans are in place to do this very thing so hopefully this does happen. The second challenge is that the QR scanners required would need to work very quickly in order to make sure that service levels could be improved. QR scanners can be a little finicky and this would not be acceptable in this case. In an ideal world, QR scanners would not even be required as it would be more efficient to just have users scan their phones, but the technology is not yet at this stage. In an ideal world, the TTC could also use the digital platform to sell ads and create another source of revenue for themselves.

  The transit users of this city deserve better. With Project One Stop, I am hoping to create an app that would make the TTC more convenient and safer to use. With all the press lately about subways and how much of a mess the city is in, it would be good to hear something positive for a change. Hopefully someday this project becomes more then just a concept and riders are finally given something to smile about. 

[femishine]

CamCode Travel App

Public displays have become a norm in our environment, ranging from small public advert displays to large commercial LED displays along our roads, in our train stations and even in schools.

  This piece of technology has developed on a fast pace from the conventional paper print to large displays at the super bowl and airports. Public displays basically works as being the medium for transmitting information to people therefore there is a market need for this medium of transmission to be brought directly to the user interacting with it on their devices

  Imagine walking into a large airport such as Dubai International airport or perhaps the ever-busy London Heathrow Airport and having absolutely no idea where to find your check in counter, gate or even the washroom.

Imagine having to rely on vague information from passersby who might just be as confused as you are or even the airport security with a foreign accent you can’t comprehend?

Have you ever wished you could get more information from airport public displays conveniently?

  This a new and exciting innovation bridges the gap between the user and the information contained on the public displays to the barest minimum by displaying the information on public displays into our smartphones. .

Camcode is a mobile travel application designed using HTML5 that relies on the latest emerging technology to interact with public information and bring it closer to the end user.  This app allows any user who walks into the airport to scan a QR code, which automatically syncs with the user’s electronic ticket that has been scanned into the app and displays airport information such as

Check in counter

Gate number

Weather

Map of the airport showing coffee shops, washrooms, duty free shops and Wi-Fi hot spots

Gives mapped direction from the user’s exact location to the selected destination within airport

Count down to departure time

User can select language preference for the information to be displayed

  Camcode uses already existing technology such as camera, QR code, GPS and LED displays to access information on public displays and sync it to device .It works on all mobile platforms such as Iphones,Androids,Windows and Blackberry.

  Components

QR code: QR code encodes information in a visual pattern that a machine can read. The combination of black and white bars (elements) represents the different text characters/information.

The app contains an embedded QR code scanner, which reads this pattern of black and white using the device camera, it then displays the information contained therein on the device screen.

GPS or Global positioning System is a network of orbiting satellites that send precise details of their position in space back to earth. The signals are obtained by GPS receivers, such as navigation devices and are used to calculate the exact position of an object.

Limitations 

How to get airlines and ticketing offices to accept embedding their information in QR code and including them on their public displays.

Getting airports around the world to sync their information into one hub, which is then transferred into QR code that can be read by this app in any part of the world.

Getting people to actually use the app by studying their behavioral patterns

                                                   Further Areas of Development

Applying this innovation in public admin offices and skyscrapers where the user can gain access to the map of a building and be able to access information such as map/layout of the building. How to get from one point to another and facilities directly on their device.

In areas of marketing and advertisement where the information on public display adverts can also be represented in QR code that the passersby can access with ease on their devices.

Please do contact me with if youre interested in further discussions about this innovation 

[email protected] 

@FemiShine