http://peoplesskype.org/

call 917-719-2006

⌐Fast Company

⌐Mashable

⌐Laughing Squid

⌐Venture Beat

⌐The Next Web

⌐Business in Economy

⌐Cryptome

⌐Mobiledia

⌐Amplifi

⌐AdBusters

Download (PDF, 1.97MB)

Download (PDF, 2.09MB)

Please follow the latest updates on this project through the thesis blog – thanks!

Everything under here is outdated:

Concept

Focusing on the social layer in wireless mesh communities:

Augmenting and interconnecting localized communities in the real world through mesh networking, social gaming/networking mechanics and a p2p exchange economy to create a community of reciprocity, trust and interdependence while extending the community’s need for a mesh beyond the decentralized value. For example: while a community garden may provide extrinsic benefits such as inexpensive food, to a neighborhood, there are additional social benefits that keep the participants in a seasonal, perpetual cycle of participation.

Meshkit proposes a HTML5/Javascript universal application built on top of open source mesh protocols (B.A.T.M.A.N.-adv, Babel, OLSR, SMesh, etc.) for aiding in the organic growth and sustainability of proximity-based wireless mesh networks, while providing localized community services to engage users not inherently interested in decentralized networking to ensure quality of service and livelihood of the mesh.

Hacknight presentation @ Forskningsavdelningen, Malmö, Sweden (Aug 2011)

Problem

As wireless communication becomes more ubiquitous and mobile, the rigid, centralized nature of telecommunication and Internet service infrastructures needs to be reassessed. Companies are charging exorbitant amounts for voice, data and SMS, while throttling service and applying bandwidth caps. Accessibility to communication through centralized sources can be restricted or severed completely by censorship, major catastrophes, or political uprisings.

Some governments around the world take a totalitarian approach to restricting the publication or access to certain online information. The “Great Firewall of China” is the most notorious and sophisticated online government censorship and surveillance project, but dozens of other countries, such as Burma, Vietnam and Cuba also take aggressive steps in restricting access. This active enforcement leads to arresting and detaining violating citizens.

Through political uprisings in Egypt, Libya and other countries, an alarming trend of partially or completely shutting down mobile and Internet communication infrastructure by the respective governments has been seen. This leads to a difficulty in organizing massive protests and opposing rebel organizations that help push for regime changes in heavily corrupt countries.

During major disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes, the centralized nature of communication infrastructures fail due to the collapse of radio antennas, networking buildings and power sources. The days
after a crisis are the most critical, in order to locate survivors and assess damages. These require very strong communication layers, but they are at their weakest at that time.

Internet and telecommunication accessibility in rural areas is important for economic and social development. The most prevalent reason for the lack of infrastructure now is the unwillingness by ISPs to expand their networks due to the minimal return on investment. An Internet provider would never make back the costs of wiring, hardware and labor involved in expanding into such far reaching areas.

Solution

Wide spread wireless mesh networks open up decentralized communication between the ubiquitous, WiFi enabled laptops, desktops, mobile devices and routers today. In a proactive network, every node (connected device) is linked to each other, while forwarding packets (communicating) without discretion. This leads to a mesh’s ability to self-heal linked nodes, making it hard to disrupt communication. It is also cost effective to end users, as Internet and other resources can be equally distributed across the mesh, without costs or maintenance incurred for external routing infrastructures. Ad-Hoc mesh networks provide connectivity amongst users anywhere, even in traditionally connection-less zones like subways or remote village.

When considering a short or long-term mesh community, cooperation between users is required – otherwise a mesh network will not function – this is represented through intrinsic and extrinsic economic incentives. Each community member should be contributing as much as they consume, as represented through a virtual currency, with a separate “rare” currency that represents actual user skill level. Social Gaming Mechanics are applied to MeshKit to move past primitive survival skills, such as aggression and competitiveness, advancing instead towards teaching more complex social survival traits. MeshKit solves pricing and capping by introducing a long-term framework that slowly grows into metropolitan wide networks. Internet gateways on the mesh network provide access to resources outside the community.
Bridges between communities are joined through DIY directional antennas at first, such as a Can-tenna (made from a tin can) or Wok-tenna (made from parabolic cooking-ware), but eventually replaced by more stable hardware. Censorship and Political Uprisings are tackled through the decentralized and ad-hoc nature of mesh networks.



MeshKit users can start special broadcast-only networks that let other connected users receive specific information being sent out or encrypted dead drop networks that lets users anonymously deposit files onto the network. A special emergency mesh network mode in MeshKit broadcasts a non-discriminating connection with any neighbor nodes. This is comparable to survivors calling for help under rubble, except others can pass these “help” messages along the mesh network chain until it reaches a rescue team. Common-person implementation is a problem – not many people, during an actual crisis, would know how or care to install a mesh network. This is solved If MeshKit is already installed and running on their phone, laptop or router. Rural areas are bridged to the Internet with MeshKit using mesh repeaters and directional antennas, while taking into account a mesh network’s ability to send communication over multiple hops.

Alpha interface: OLSRd mesh protocol running with openFrameworks (C++)

User Scenario

Prototype assets are re-mixed from Zynga’s Treasure Isle game.


Personal mesh node represented by island connected to other nodes.


Overview of mesh network, with communication interface.




Resource economy project market.


Directional antenna instructions.

Thatcher Effect

Fregoli Delusion

Uncanny Valley Effect

Cotard Delusion

Prosopagnosia

Pareidolia

Rib Cage

Wait Here

3.14

Proboscis

Shhh

A scientifically-accurate, organic chemistry board game based around “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”

Dosages Calculated to be Physically Safe to Ingest

Pill Bottle Contents Mimic Look of Real Substances

Multiple Sets of Cards Included

Challenge, Dose and Activity Cards to Draw From

The Playing Board Circular Spots Correspond to Cards to Draw From – the Shape of the Playing Field and the Green Spots Mimic a Peyote Button

Various Characters to Choose From

Interaction and Synergy Between Substances Compensated and Addressed through Cards

Process photos

Interview

Displayed at the USC Fisher Gallery and a permanent copy was purchased for the Levy Library Collection.

Full Size

Full Size

December 11th- January 22nd

Art by

Jonathan Baldwin – http://www.jrbaldwin.com
Ana Benaroya – http://www.anabenaroya.com/
Eric Branscum
David Chen
Steven Fiche – http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenfiche
Steven Glover
Shelby Holol with PFFR http://www.pffr.net/
Christy Karacas of Augenblick Studios http://www.augenblickstudios.com
Stina Löfgren http://www.stinalofgren.com/
Craig Miller
Ian Nitta – http://iannitta.com/
Alia Penner – http://www.aliapenner.com/
Johnny Ryan – http://johnnyr.com/
Anastasia Shepherd
Dave Sirus – http://www.grannypunch.com
Edythe Smith
Sam Yurick
Jonathan Zajdman – http://www.jonathanzajdman.com/
Zzalgern0n – http://www.zzalgern0n.com/

Concept

Pinion is an alternative, meaningful rating system, that categorizes places through expressive semantics. It also incorporates a dynamic time element to synch with user’s fluctuating moods, as they move throughout the day into differing environments.

Apps like Yelp, Foursquare, and Google Places are widely used resources for rating places, but the star and number rating systems are arbitrary and not always accurate. These ratings are compiled on an average to give a blanket assessment of a location without considering time of day or day of week.

See and try Pinion live (optimized for Android devices).

User Scenarios

It’s 10:30 pm on a Friday night and two friends are at a bar which was given a 4-star rating on Yelp. They were looking to find an “awesome” bar, but it was not their kind of awesome. With Pinion, they can search for a place that has the specific scene they are looking for at that moment.

It is 1:30pm on a Tuesday afternoon and a nanny is looking for a quiet napping spot to take the kids to. He texts “Quiet@Carroll and 4th NYC” to Pinion to find the nearest quiet place at that moment.

Interface Design

Pin a Place by tapping on a pin


Find a Place, one tap to include a tag, two taps to exclude in search


Texting Pinion to find the nearest location based on pin


Add or subtract search pins based on these four times of day

A full list of current pins

Current Progress

Currently developing fully functional alpha version of Android and Web-based app, with user testing to follow.

An animated music video for a song by the CERN physicists in the “Canettes Blues Band. It’s about the ATLAS Experiment in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, in Geneva, Switzerland, the quantum world and finding the Higg’s Boson.

Collaborating with the band and making sure the video concept was scientifically sound, I shot the original footage in a warehouse at CERN. Using a combination of the Rotobrush in After Effects and Mocha tracking system, I converted the footage to rotoscope, pieced it together in After Effects with assets built in Photoshop/Illustrator, and edited it to the song.

Design

The Target pill bottle design perfected many aspects of Rx design, so this bottle concept borrows the more significant points. E-ink memory storage is stored in the bottle instead of the cap to ensure accurate drug information if pill caps are swapped.


ZigBee chips create an ad hoc wireless mesh network between prescriptions. Drug interaction warnings appear on e-ink label.


Rx caps emit slow pulsing alert for conditions not safe for specific drugs based on sensors stored within each cap.




Electromagnetic induction is used to easily charge Rx caps. Induction mats can be fitted to the interior shelf of a medicine cabinet or bathroom counter.

Problem

After multiple calls to Zitomer & Rite-Aid pharmacies and the Food and Drug Administration, the percentage of this death statistic attributed to each area is unavailable, but they are factored in.

Precedents

Proprietary system that solves some problems with Rx


Re-imagines the pill bottle as a slide loading mechanism for ease of use. Does not address other Rx issues.


An award winning design that solves many issues with processing medication and ease of use.


A conceptual prototype for E-ink-enabled Rx bottles.

Testing

Testing bottle cap opening ease of use. The tab cap proved to be an easier mechanism.

Additional testing is required in all aspects.

animated storyboard

inlcude sketches – on ipod

search hollow

Challenge

We were tasked with creating an inventive intervention in the public sphere. We chose the Brooklyn Heights Promenade as our location, because of the broad diversity it attracts; tourists, babysitters, runners, passive viewers and locals stroll by this beautiful place everyday.

People come here primarily for the breathtaking view of the Manhattan skyline. The place was designed for that purpose – all the benches face Manhattan.

We wanted to engage those that only come for the Manhattan view (specifically tourists). By giving visitors a unique view – connecting the Manhattan skyline with Brooklyn’s – and letting the viewer peer from the opposite side of the East River, they would garner interest in the immediate area and spend some time walking around the Brooklyn neighborhood.

Goals

▲ To increase interaction between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
▲ Foster social interaction of the participants.
▲ Give additional information about the Skyline and the surroundings of the Promenade.
▲ Interact with the site in a playful manner.


The device consists of a double-sided canvas, which is divided in five vertical sections. Each section has a pivot mechanism that allows them to be turned in 360 degrees to view both sides fluidly.


Site location

Design

The participants can use the device as they want, giving them the freedom to see only one side, both sides or a mix between both sides, depending on which sections they turn.

The panels contain information about buildings in both skylines: name, year of construction, height, designers and purpose.


Full Size


Full Size

Additional User Interaction

Features

For Physical Computing 1, I was tasked with making a piece of “calm technology.” I designed an Art Deco-style automatic cigarette lighter.
When the user gets close to an IR sensor for a certain amount of time, a motor triggers

For this project I attempted to replicate an ant colony optimization algorithm combined with a termite algorithm, with opposing ant colonies. After many many hours of work in conceptualizing and attempting to execute the process, I ended up with a partial finish:

I created a flocking style algorithm for ants moving in a somewhat random direction, by adding all previous movements in an array and finding the median in order to create a more logical random movement, in the same way ants move forward forward directional if, etc. Here is the first construction of the ant random movement – the movement is different when near the colony than out in the “field”, as the ant would be more likely to move randomly to find food while in the wild than near home.

The red dots are food, the black sketches are ant trails.

I then created an array of food and ants in order to create collision detection between the two, so that the ant would detect the food and return home. I created another ant array for “ant_alert” that would spawn new ants at the detect food location and return home. This proved to be quite difficult (in learning about passing values, etc.) and I spent a considerable amount of time:

I then tried to create a reverse iterator through a vector of a “successful” path to find food, so that the ant could trace the origin home and add a scent trail to the path so other ants would follow this successful path. The scent trail I created only added to one food path, but never following the ant all the way back home. I wasn’t able to get past this part, but I have learned A LOT more about OF during this wonderfully excruciating process. I still want to create scent trails that fade over time so that the fastest path can be found, but I think I need to conceptualize the logic process more.

For this project I wanted to parse the chaotic nature of Anonymous , by compiling a list of every Anonymous twitter account I could find (~400, although they are always branching off) and plotting their influence vs. signal noise on a graph. The points furthest away from the origin (0,0) and in the middle are most influential with the most information output. To add a more immediate informational point, I mapped the size and color of each object based on the number of re-tweets of the latest tweet.

The X axis = # of Tweets for that account

The Y axis = # of Followers for that account

Size/color of Spheres = Amount of re-tweets their latest tweet received.

If one clicks on a member, they are shown their last tweet and the twitter account name.

I ran into some problems early on, with the nature of the Twitter API. I was only allowed 350 query requests total per hour, so not even one instance of the program could parse the accounts, so I figured out to build a list a members and query that. Unfortunately, Twitter only allows you to pull 20 users from each list, so I had to make 20 lists of 20 members.

I then ran into a problem with the way Twitter wrote “retweet_count” into JSON – if it is over 100 tweets, it outputs “100+” which screws up the JSON library parsing. I had to go into the library and hack it apart…

I also need to refine the scalability of the program, as the range of followers/tweets spans from < 100 to > 30,000 – for now, I am mapping smaller values proportionally in a higher range than larger values, so the smaller points aren’t condensed in the corner.

For the next step, I want to refine the visual aspects of the program, somehow show the gradual shift in influence, by requesting new data from the server in a set amount of time (not over the twitter limit) and then synching it with the NY times API feed to show the level of Anonymous twitter activity in relevance to news cycles.

Found a train wash when sneaking into Los Angeles public transit complex