G.E.R.A., or the Global Emissions Reduction Alliance, is a gamified carbon tracking website that allows users to input real data from their actual carbon emissions, and also encourages them through mini-games to reduce these emissions in real life. What's really great about this site is that it is trying to make a difference in the real world. Some of the apps are for convenience or entertainment, whereas this app is actually trying to address a real world problem, and that's admirable.
The stat visualization on the website looks really good. Since users can enter their data, the team has created tools to help visualize their carbon emission history, and I think this will help users to see how much they've improved, or if they have. Most of the users on the site will want to improve their carbon emissions, it's unlikely that people will be playing the game without any motivation. This tool just helps them keep track of everything, and gives them little directed incentives, which is really all people need to get going in the right direction.
The site is a little too dark sometimes, which makes the text a little hard to read. The team slightly fixed this by making a translucent background, but the site (at certain points) doesn't look super visually appealing, mostly because of color rather than art style. As well, I wish I knew what the games looked like. From what I can tell, the "games" are just something like "reduce your carbon by 2% this week" with data entry from the user, which isn't super exciting. Though, I don't really know how you could make it more exciting, so I can't really blame them.
Overall, I think this app is very good. I think it is the most beneficial app to mankind out of all of the projects in the class, since it is actually trying to do good for the world.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Thoughts on Other Projects: Automaton
Automaton has succeeded in making a game that looks professional, and better yet, like something people would want to play. The idea for Automaton was to make a game that's fun but also teaches about computer science, not necessarily in a way that's strictly educational, but more in a way where you don't even realize you're learning. It looks like a puzzle game mixed with fundamentals of CS. You have to manipulate the pieces to create a for loop, or take the mod of a number, stuff like that.
I think what I really like is even if it's not teaching people how to program, it's teaching them how to think like a computer scientist. In computer science, you really have to think of things in a step by step fashion, and that's what the game is all about. Manipulating a system in a step by step way to get your desired result. No, it won't teach you the correct Java syntax, but it will teach you how to think about problems when you're writing Java.
The only thing I don't like about it, is that it looks very similar to Spacechem, another game like it that I've played. The gameplay is extremely similar. However, they've recognized this, and after all it's in the same genre, since the genre is a specific type of puzzle game. Automaton certainly has its own look and feel to it, it is nothing like a complete copy, so this is not a big issue.
Overall, I think Automaton looks amazingly polished for what it is. Nobody else made a game (at least a video game) for their project, likely due to the inherent obstacles that come with building a game from scratch. These guys have not only pulled it off, but they've made something excellent, despite the difficulties. This project will definitely be one to look out for in the final presentations.
I think what I really like is even if it's not teaching people how to program, it's teaching them how to think like a computer scientist. In computer science, you really have to think of things in a step by step fashion, and that's what the game is all about. Manipulating a system in a step by step way to get your desired result. No, it won't teach you the correct Java syntax, but it will teach you how to think about problems when you're writing Java.
The only thing I don't like about it, is that it looks very similar to Spacechem, another game like it that I've played. The gameplay is extremely similar. However, they've recognized this, and after all it's in the same genre, since the genre is a specific type of puzzle game. Automaton certainly has its own look and feel to it, it is nothing like a complete copy, so this is not a big issue.
Overall, I think Automaton looks amazingly polished for what it is. Nobody else made a game (at least a video game) for their project, likely due to the inherent obstacles that come with building a game from scratch. These guys have not only pulled it off, but they've made something excellent, despite the difficulties. This project will definitely be one to look out for in the final presentations.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Thoughts on Other Projects: Mechanapp
This application looks really good. The visuals are really nice, their seem to be pleasurable animations on everything which I really like. The idea is a good one, basically it helps you diagnose problems in your car based on a series of yes or no questions. It also uses weighted likelihoods to try to diagnose your problem more accurately and more quickly.
I really like this product, and think it has real market potential. Their idea is to make money by putting in targeted advertising into the product, which makes a lot of sense since their product is already targeting a specific demographic. The problem there is you have to gain momentum to get the attention of anyone who wants to advertise with you before you can make any money, however this is a problem for a lot of startups.
The presentation for these guys was great! They felt very relaxed and comfortable with their product, which is good. It makes me feel more confident in the product when I see them so comfortable with it. Also, it seemed that they had rehearsed the demo a few times so it went very smoothly and demonstrated all of the features quite clearly.
One question that I have, (and a reservation I have about the product) is how are all of the trees going to be implemented? Are all of them going to have to be manually entered? Are there separate trees for every car or are they all pretty much working with the same tree?
Despite all this, I think the product is great, and think it's a real contender for the best project award. Good luck to Mechanapp and its team!
I really like this product, and think it has real market potential. Their idea is to make money by putting in targeted advertising into the product, which makes a lot of sense since their product is already targeting a specific demographic. The problem there is you have to gain momentum to get the attention of anyone who wants to advertise with you before you can make any money, however this is a problem for a lot of startups.
The presentation for these guys was great! They felt very relaxed and comfortable with their product, which is good. It makes me feel more confident in the product when I see them so comfortable with it. Also, it seemed that they had rehearsed the demo a few times so it went very smoothly and demonstrated all of the features quite clearly.
One question that I have, (and a reservation I have about the product) is how are all of the trees going to be implemented? Are all of them going to have to be manually entered? Are there separate trees for every car or are they all pretty much working with the same tree?
Despite all this, I think the product is great, and think it's a real contender for the best project award. Good luck to Mechanapp and its team!
Thoughts on Other Projects: Visual Scheduler
These guys certainly made a product that people want. To be honest, I knew the scheduling tool for UNM was a pain but I didn't really know I wanted a new way to do it until I saw the visual scheduler. It just seems like it makes it so easy, compared to the current method. The schedule generator is genius and is definitely a feature I would use in the future.
The first presentation for this group was a bit weak. The demo was fine, the site (mostly) worked, and it certainly looked like a strong product, but I felt like the presentation wasn't super rehearsed and they demo'd a bit too long just to fill in time that they didn't use.
All that being said, the second presentation from them was way better. The demonstration didn't feel forced, the time felt natural, and they demo'd the schedule generator which was super cool. Overall, I think it was super improved and I'm confident it will be even better going into the final investor pitch.
I really like this group, and wish them the best with their final presentation!
The first presentation for this group was a bit weak. The demo was fine, the site (mostly) worked, and it certainly looked like a strong product, but I felt like the presentation wasn't super rehearsed and they demo'd a bit too long just to fill in time that they didn't use.
All that being said, the second presentation from them was way better. The demonstration didn't feel forced, the time felt natural, and they demo'd the schedule generator which was super cool. Overall, I think it was super improved and I'm confident it will be even better going into the final investor pitch.
I really like this group, and wish them the best with their final presentation!
Project wrapping up
It's interesting to view the project now that it all is wrapping up. It's no longer a looming fear in the distance, it's quite nearly an obstacle overcome. I'd be lying if I said there weren't nights when I thought we wouldn't finish it. I've had to pull quite a few all nighters working on this project, but it's unbelievable how much we've been able to accomplish in such a short time span. Sure, we only got one "simple" Android application done in 3 months time, but none of us even had Android experience going into this project. We jumped in head first, and I for one came out with a much better understanding of Android and how to use it.
Android wasn't what I was expecting. I will say that. It uses Java, but it definitely isn't Java. If you've used Java, it doesn't give you enough knowledge to just know Android, and may be quite confused going into it. However, I have started using a little bit of Java FX and it seems to use some of the Android paradigms. Since it Android is a very visual language (or perhaps I'm just taking advantage of a lot of the visual aspects) this relationship makes a lot of sense.
Being so close to the end makes me excited, and sad. Sad for the end of all the memories, excited for the prospect of moving on to new projects! Good luck to everyone working on their projects.
Android wasn't what I was expecting. I will say that. It uses Java, but it definitely isn't Java. If you've used Java, it doesn't give you enough knowledge to just know Android, and may be quite confused going into it. However, I have started using a little bit of Java FX and it seems to use some of the Android paradigms. Since it Android is a very visual language (or perhaps I'm just taking advantage of a lot of the visual aspects) this relationship makes a lot of sense.
Being so close to the end makes me excited, and sad. Sad for the end of all the memories, excited for the prospect of moving on to new projects! Good luck to everyone working on their projects.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Developing for Mobile
Hi there, I'm back today talking about developing for mobile, and what its advantages and disadvantages are.
First off, they're mostly disadvantages, to be honest. The biggest frustration is testing code. The easiest way that we've found is to run the application on your phone through a USB, since the emulator is horrible and slow. Once running on the phone, you can set up a console to give you error output and standard output on the computer. In this way, you can see what went wrong if anything, since the phone does not give verbose output. The problem here is that we need to test outside sometimes. Since our application is motion and GPS based, a lot of the time we need to go outside and run around with it to test if features we implemented even worked. Needless to say, this makes it difficult to bring the computer with you to debug.
Another issue is artificial data. With computers, it is much easier to set up a system to feed your program false data so that you may test your code. With mobile, we are often pulling from sources on the phone itself and does not make sense to fake the data from it. Overall there are many difficulties developing for mobile since you are developing on a different platform than what you are developing for.
One positive aspect is that your program is as mobile as your phone. This means if you want to test data on a mountain, you don't need the computer just your phone, which is highly portable.
I like developing for mobile, because I think it's an important skill to know and it's so popular right now. There are so many apps being developed, but there are a lot of low quality apps developers have a chance to stand out from the crowd.
First off, they're mostly disadvantages, to be honest. The biggest frustration is testing code. The easiest way that we've found is to run the application on your phone through a USB, since the emulator is horrible and slow. Once running on the phone, you can set up a console to give you error output and standard output on the computer. In this way, you can see what went wrong if anything, since the phone does not give verbose output. The problem here is that we need to test outside sometimes. Since our application is motion and GPS based, a lot of the time we need to go outside and run around with it to test if features we implemented even worked. Needless to say, this makes it difficult to bring the computer with you to debug.
Another issue is artificial data. With computers, it is much easier to set up a system to feed your program false data so that you may test your code. With mobile, we are often pulling from sources on the phone itself and does not make sense to fake the data from it. Overall there are many difficulties developing for mobile since you are developing on a different platform than what you are developing for.
One positive aspect is that your program is as mobile as your phone. This means if you want to test data on a mountain, you don't need the computer just your phone, which is highly portable.
I like developing for mobile, because I think it's an important skill to know and it's so popular right now. There are so many apps being developed, but there are a lot of low quality apps developers have a chance to stand out from the crowd.
Intellij... You weren't the way
Hey there, today I'm going to be talking about JetBrains IntelliJ. You can find their website here.
We picked IntelliJ because we thought it would be the robust path. Though it's new, we read much high praise for it and that it was the future of android development. We knew going in that there would be more support for Eclipse, but really how many problems can an IDE cause?
More than I thought, certainly.
Adding libraries is a key part of the IDE, and it is not at all clear much of the time how we are supposed to do this correctly in IntelliJ. Because all of the tutorials were written for Eclipse, I assumed they would pretty much be the same in IntelliJ, because why would they reinvent the wheel? However, the project structure files are different, so much of the process is different enough to invalidate tutorials. Basically, it's just different enough to cause problems.
I would not recommend using IntelliJ for someone thinking about doing Android development. Use Eclipse. The features are all there. It has better support. And mostly, it's what everyone else uses.
We picked IntelliJ because we thought it would be the robust path. Though it's new, we read much high praise for it and that it was the future of android development. We knew going in that there would be more support for Eclipse, but really how many problems can an IDE cause?
More than I thought, certainly.
Adding libraries is a key part of the IDE, and it is not at all clear much of the time how we are supposed to do this correctly in IntelliJ. Because all of the tutorials were written for Eclipse, I assumed they would pretty much be the same in IntelliJ, because why would they reinvent the wheel? However, the project structure files are different, so much of the process is different enough to invalidate tutorials. Basically, it's just different enough to cause problems.
I would not recommend using IntelliJ for someone thinking about doing Android development. Use Eclipse. The features are all there. It has better support. And mostly, it's what everyone else uses.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)