Tuesday May 22, 2018
Summary: Today we learned how to solder and I attached an LED to a copper tape series circuit using the soldering method. It was an interesting experience and I was glad that I have acquired a new technical skill. I can definitely see myself engaging with the girl scouts and teaching them the fundamentals or circuitry. We also learned how to use Arduino and set up our box data storage accounts. I was also exposed to different observational methods and put them into practice by watching the same video on repeat, observing different things and different relationships on each iteration. Projects were presented on mobile application developments for pregnant women who opted to give birth in home and utilize a midwife. Another project using co-design, HCI, and UX was presented with the HomeSHARE program, and I found it quite interesting. I am considering applying for this research position. I had a productive day procuring information and am eager to see what tomorrow has in store.
Homework
I was able to successfully complete the blink test for the Arduino Lilypad.
Observation Homework:
I was assigned to observe an area that had a large pedestrian population density and record their smartphone usage and interactions. Utilizing the observational methods I had picked up from class today, I chose the Object Mapping method of observation, which zeroes in on inanimate objects and the relationships they have with individuals you are observing. The setting of observation that I chose was the Kroger grocery store. I chose Kroger because I figured large amounts of people would be using their phones for a variety of tasks, such as shopping lists and attention occupants. I observed that people clutched their phones tightly when they were outside near strangers, and I noticed they held their phones tightly in line checking out. The phones were always kept in either a pocket for the males or a pocket or purse for the females. During the twenty minute observation, I noticed that parents often did the shopping and their children would be glued to their phones. The phones served as mechanism of distraction for the children to keep their minds occupied. The phones used by adults were often stared at intensely, most likely to analyze a shopping list. The study of the phones led me to conclude that people are generally untrusting of one another in the realm of personal property, and that younger people must always be distracted when they are not involved in a task. I would most likely utilize the spacio temporal method of observation if I were to conduct this study again and analyze if pedestrians behaved differently in varying sections of the grocery store, from the checkout lane to deli section.
Links to ShareLatex Bios
Professional Bio:
https://www.sharelatex.com/read/nyhggtyjzfzj
Girl Scout Connection Bio
https://www.sharelatex.com/read/ftshfzrrfbnm
Wednesday, May 23
Today I was exposed to a plethora of new technologies and tools useful for the research process. First, I was enlightened on effective procedures for creating informative videos designed to give viewers a brief synopsis of a project. We focused primarily on identifying the problem and depicting a solution through the video. Crystal clear high resolution and impeccable audio are among the major ingredients for a successful video. Next we discussed the importance of related works once again and went over what a captivating press release looks like. The press release is designed to give readers (in laymen’s terms) a quick overview of an important event or discovery that is succinct and expository. The title should be inviting, creative, and most of all direct. It is imperative that visuals are related to the what is being covered and that all graphics are placed in effective positions in the press release. Captions are essential and should be under every photo or video. Quotations from reliable sources not only increase the credibility of your own work but also provide first-hand information about the specific topic that is virtually factually indisputable (opinions are another story). We then learned how to program the Lilypad Arduino to play the Harry Potter Theme and were informed on what commands to issue the compiler so that different color lights would be emitted. I had a lot of fun learning to use the Lilypad, for it was my first time programming with actual hardware! After the Arduino “workshop” it was time for the group to learn the fundamentals of Tableau, a data analyzation application. We learned how to filter the data and display it in organized graphs with aesthetically pleasing color schemes. It was an enjoyable experience and a nice alternative to Excel. After the Tableau meeting I heard more project presentations that were interesting, but I did not think I would be compatible with them. Below are my assignments for the day.
Tableau Graphs:
Above are the step counts and the heart rate values that were collected from one of the Graduate students. It was fun manipulating the data with Tableau, I really liked the interface. I look forward to using it to manipulate it more quantitative data!
Press Release:
Below is a mock press release for the Arduino Lilypad my group and I created.
Distraction Device Synthesized to Divert Children’s Attention
On Wednesday May 23 researchers from Indiana University had a breakthrough with the Lilypad Arduino, creating a software program that will distract young children. The Harry Potter Theme song being played concurrently with a light show will allow parents to experience more free time and accomplish more of their tasks.
Head Researcher Michael Saganich was asked about the software and its implementation. HE commented “While I obviously cannot disclose any of the source code, it was a pleasure using the Arduino application and made development much easier. I hope we can present more projects for the general public and grant more parents stress alleviation.” The Lilypad Arduino is a compact piece of hardware with multiple sensors and LEDs. The light show coupled with the sounds made it a perfect distraction for children. Below is the link to the product demonstration.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dp6CTC68R0TxIpOswZEOWpad22q_yLNf
If you have questions or business inquires, please contact Michael at msaganic@iu.edu
That does it for today’s blog! See you all tomorrow!
Thursday, May 24
Today we learned about creating a website for ourselves and how to make it both visually effective and highly informative. Color schemes can make or break a website, so attention to detail is necessary. All important works should be easily accessible and there should always be a navigation toolbar so that users may effortlessly jump from place to place on one’s website. I cannot wait to commence the creation of my own website.
Later in the day we learned how to use the Android Studio and started developing our own mobile application. Because I was familiar with C++ and had coded before I found the exercise to be fun and wanted to learn more about the software, but time expired and the application I had designed was interesting, but not fully functional. I plan to resume the project at another time. We were exposed to elevator pitches as well, and we learned that they should be under one minute in length and even have a catchy lure so that others will ask questions at the end. I cannot wait to present tomorrow!
Friday, May 25
I was given my project today, so as one may guess I am elated! I will be working with Dr. James Clawson on an application to communicate data between midwives and doctors in the event that a pregnant mother must undergo hospitalization. Indiana has the highest rate of in-home births at 2%, so this feels like the perfect place to conduct the study. I am eagerly awaiting on project start so that I can begin software design! I was very excited to learn that if desired I can participate in the CHI Research competition. I will definitely being devoting a lot of tome to preparation for it and cannot wait. We gave our elevator pitches today as well, and it was fun to learn about everyone’s project. I thought I did alright, but there was room for improvement. That wraps it up for this week! I will see you all next week and have a great Memorial Day Weekend!