just another technology blog on “the interweb”
Objective: Choose one or more of the following…or create your own.
Bubbles move around the screen, with gravity added to them. They bounce from the sides in order to stay within the screen. If you click the mouse, wind gets added and pushes them around.
GoSketch
GoSketch is a drawing application for mobile phone. I have looked online and asked around and so far there is not a decent drawing application for the mobile phone. People always seem to be doing something with their phones. Maybe it is a sunconscious thing, maybe not. This application would allow people to spend their “downtime” (in the subway, in the park) being creative.
People will be able to send drawings to each other via bluetooth. The drawings can be saved so they can be edited at a later date. There is also the capability of taking photos and drawing on them. (Think: mini-photoshop app, w/out all the bells and whistles)
Mobile Paper Dolls
Mobile Paper Dolls is an application that allows the younger audience to create their own characters, change their clothes and essentially personalize in many different ways. The basic body is given at the start. There is a choice of boy or girl (later iterations will include different nationalities, etc.) A drop down menu allows for the different outfits and accessories.
After the doll is finished, it can be uploaded via Bluetooth to a computer to be used as an Avatar for different social software applications, such as Instant Messenger or MySpace.
Background: When I was a young girl, my grandma and I used to cut out paper dolls. When we were done with the patterns in the book, we’d make up our own patterns out of regular paper. The design possibilities were endless! Sometime last year (or perhaps even more recently), a mobile phone was developed for children to use. It had a very simple design, yet the phone had its own audience. Many children now have their own phones, whether that specific model, or more complex models, like the ones we use right now as adults. Sooner or later, there will be applications made specifically for this group of people.
[ not yet… ]
The visit to SPOTS was quite different from the Elizabeth Seton Center. The children come to work on specific things; usually they are referred to the center by a teacher or parent that notices something different in their development. After about a year, each child is re-evaluated in terms of his or her progress in the program.
“Therapy comes into play when a function is disabled.”
Notes:
- using switches in toys
- mapping of the environment, making children feel safe
- SI: Sensory Integration
- adapting things so kids can use them
- overfocusing on skills that a child may not be ready for developmentally
- engage a child in play and make it theraputic, variability in play is important in getting a response
- theraputic music (strange beats and tones)
- neoprene: scuba-like weight vest material
- kids who are defensive orally are also defensive tactily
- video games take away the social aspect of play
- suburbia vs city in terms of defensiveness in children
- not using toys the way they’re supposed to be used
* adjustable chairs for positioning; children need to feel grounded
* adaptation of toys to help children with motor control (using switches), keyboards (adaptive keyboards)
MIDlet Project:
The MIDlet I am going to build is composed of a screen that displays different little people. You can use the quad nav to scroll towards them. When you click, it goes to the next screen that is either a zombie image and a noise of a scream OR it does nothing (if the person is not a zombie.)
Mobile Development Process (Mac)
The setup for the Mac (installation of Ant, PowerPlayer & Polish) is finally complete. With the installation of Eclipse, I was able to go through the mobile development process using this. The result is displayed below. The only downfall to be found as of yet is the lack of emulators available for the Mac. However, I believe the files can easily be transferred over to Windows in the same program and run in the many different emulators available on that particular platform.
Low-Level UI Class (using Canvas):
I found some documentation on using Canvas to create some basic shapes and text, however I am having some difficulty implementing it within Eclipse. It looks like fragments of the code that need to be put together in a certain way. I did find some resources online for both Eclipse and J2ME that I think will be useful in figuring this out.
Favorite Application:
Since I currently use a very low level mobile phone, there is a limit to the kind of applications it is capable of running. That said, my favorite application thus far is the Instant Messenger capability (not quite sure if this qualifies as an application.) I have grown so -sadly- attached to my computer and the feeling of being completely connected at all times to almost everyone I know and this application provides the ability to transfer this connectivity to a device which I carry with me everywhere I go.
In a positive way, I receive messages for work, school or from friends immediately. It elimates the wait involved in the process of email. On the contrary, there is a downside to being constantly accessible. There is a certain obligation inherent in being “on call” 24 hours a day and that is not necessarily something I look forward to.
Objective: To use object oriented programming to create a “random walker”, i.e. an object that moves around the window randomly. Use the techniques above to move the walker around the screen in a more interesting way. Can you expand the walker to have more advanced physics?
in collaboration with Jen, Rhys, Mang & Ching-I
The Wever is a device that allows people with limited mobility (eg. arthritis) to open windows with ease. It is easier to push down than to lift, especially with the friction that comes with first opening a window.
This device is fitted into the space near the window and the user pushes down on the handle to begin lifting the window up.
Since this is the first visit, it would be difficult to compare this center to others like it. The things I did see were fascinating and greatly exceeded my expectations for what was available for children with disabilities. In terms of need, or things they were looking for, some things stood out: light, vibration & sound. Certain children respond differently to different stimuli. Its all a game of trial and error to figure out what works on an individual basis.
A large screen is projected on one wall in a room called the “Wonder Room.” Children can move in front of it, where a camera picks up their movement and changes the images accordingly. A child can push a ball across the screen, make trees or even play a (somewhat altered) game of pool.
There is a machine that transforms movement into sound. A child can effectively “play” a harp by merely moving in front of the sensors on the microphone-like stands. Machines like this are expensive, however. This one cost around 10k. Not something a child might have access to unless in one of these facilities.
Another application of technology, also located in the “Wonder Room,” was a string of lights that changed colors. They were much more durable than those I have seen before. Much emphasis was placed on the ability to wash these devices or clean the surfaces so that they may be used for more than one child, on multiple occasions. (Latex is not allowed anywhere in the facility, as some children are allergic to it.)
We were brought into the basement, where there is a pool for water therapy exercises and a small jacuzzi which is no longer in use because of issues with germs. The sides of the pool were clear, so you could watch the movement from the outside. So far, no technology devices that they know of have been integrated into the water therapy as of yet.
The Starlight Foundation provides much of the monetary support for the facility, along with Medicare.
Monkey Love
Function: The monkey interacts with the user in two ways. You can press the hands together to make its nose glow or squeeze the tail to hear a sound.
Hardware: sound chip, hacked and recorded on; arduino (but can also be controlled using batteries); conductible fabric
It was built using one item from each of the the following three lists.
1. Actions: stroking, tapping, shaking, dancing, caressing, breathing
2. Things: feathers, monkey, playground ball, sneakers, lentils, pudding
3. Responses: sound, animation, speech, music, kinetic movement
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