Project:Possibility

Project:Possibility

presents

Orientation

January 28, 2009

Welcome to the SS12 Orientation

Agenda

• All about SS12– Purpose– Projects– Judging– Schedule

• Q&A

What is Project:Possibility

• Our mission is to inspire a community of persons with disabilities and software developers to work together and make a difference by inventing software that will unlock new areas of life for persons with disabilities, giving them access to experiences previously impossible to achieve.

The Purpose of SS12

• Create empowering software for persons with disabilities– Because technology is powerful– Because there is a need– Because we can

• Software: Open sourced– Malleable– Knowledge is retained and

nurtured within a community– Free to those who need it

most – it cannot be sold for profit

• SS12 is an Extension of Project:Possibility

Who is behind SS12?

Organizers– Project:Possibility– UCLA Association for Computing

Machinery

Corporate Sponsors–Mozilla– Cisco– Google– Lockheed

Projects

1. Color Identifier

2. Mobile Sound Notifier

3. Handicap Map Annotation Tool

4. Handicap Site Annotation Tool

5. Phonetic Support for Word Predictor

6. AxsJax

Project 1: Color Identifier

• 8% of the male population is affected by color blindness (about 1 in 12).

• Most graphics and web applications are not developed with this in mind.

• Challenge: Develop a browser-plugin or a native app that can assist viewability by translating the RGB value to a human-readable color name.

• Alternatively, let a cell phone take a picture of something, and then identify its color.

• Mentor: Harold Tan (fasttrackfundraising.com)

Original map/graphic, where color information is vital to understanding of information

Map viewed by somebody with Deuteronopia

(most common form of color blindness)

Map viewed by somebody with Tritanopia

Commercial device to assist the color blind or sight-impaired

Project 2: Mobile Sound Notifier

• Develop a mobile application that will alert the profoundly or completely deaf of some occurence he or she might not completely be aware of, like a car horn.

• Mentor: Jeff Wilhelm (Symantec)

Project 3: Handicap Map Annotation Tool

• Develop a Google Maps mapplet that allows users to annotate locations with information like whether handicap parking is available, etc. This idea is from a response to the NYT article.

• References: • http://code.google.com/apis/maps/

documentation/mapplets/ • http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=KJukKpQDVLQ • Mentor: Ojas Mulay (Amgen)

Project 4: Handicap Site Annotation Tool

• Build a Firefox plug-in that allows users to annotate whether a web site is friendly to a variety of disabilities.

• This information can be communicated to users of those disabilities when they visit the site. When combined with a hierarchical directory, users with a disability can find web sites on a topic that are usable.

• Mentor: James Hon (ProsforPros.com)

Project 5: Word Prediction• Time is money, but what about those who have limited mobility

and can’t type quickly?• This project is extending work completed in past SS12 and

Semester Project• This software helps people with limited mobility by predicting

the next word to be typed based on past words/characters.• Incorporate a phonetic mapping into the word predictor (e.g.

where kat and cat are equivalent) to allow for misspellings on behalf of users.

• Useful Skills:– Data structures– User Interface– Algorithms

• Mentor: Michael Parker (Google)

Project 6: Axsjax

• There has been no way to report dynamic updates to a website to assistive technology—until now! (WAIARIA)

• AxsJax: Inject accessibility into existing websites• This project will be using AxsJax to make Facebook

more accessible• Useful Skills

– Web development– DOM– Javascript

• Mentor: Brian D’Souza (Amgen)

Exhibition Projects

Possible Projects:• Speaking Thunderbird– Integrate TTS engine to Thunderbird email client,

and make the new module as an extension for thunderbird

• Games– For the visually impaired and/or hearing impaired

• Head Tracker– Use a web cam to track head movement and

correlate it to mouse movement• Web Cam Sign Language Interpreter

• Mentor: Anthony Aleta (Amgen)

Judging

• Is this something that someone would want to continue work on? This is open source!– Architecture– Code Quality– Documentation

• Is this an effective way of accomplishing the task?– Ingenuity– Innovation

• How well did we meet the challenge?– Challenge factor

Our Recommendations

• Divide and Conquer is the name of the game– Break into roles– Paired Programming– Elect a team lead

• Eat, drink, and be merry– take breaks, have fun!

• Spend sufficient time on design

SS12 Judges

• Emanuel Lin (Cisco)

• Gigi Lau (Raytheon)

• Ely Lerner (Amgen, Project:Possibility)

SS12 Mentors

• Brian D’Souza (Amgen)

• James Hon (ProsForPros.com)

• Ojas Mulay (Amgen)

• Michael Parker (Google)

• Harold Tan (FastTrackFundraising)

• Jeff Wilhelm (Symantec)

Prizes

• Grand Prize– $200 to each team member (Thanks Mozilla and

Project:Possibility!)

• Second Place– $50 to each team member (Thanks Google!)

• Third Place– $20 Best Buy Gift Cards (Thanks Cisco!)

• Other Prizes– Sony giveaways– SS12 Tshirts

ScheduleWednesday – Orientation• Students register project preferences• Mentors contact team members on Friday

Saturday• Check in begins 8:30 AM Saturday (BH 4760)

– Name tags– Team locations– Updated schedule

• Opening Remarks/Announcements begin promptly at 9:00 AM• Code-A-Thon!!!Sunday• Day begins promptly by 9:00 AM• Project Presentations

– ~10 minutes/team at 5:30 PM

What to Bring

• Laptop with Wireless / Network cable• AC Adaptor• Pillows/blankets• Text books/references• Power Strip• Routers/Hubs

• Please keep an eye on your stuff so it does not get stolen

To Do

• Vote for your project preferences, due by noon tomorrow.

• Set up SVN client on your computer• Learn how to use wiki• When you receive your project/team

assignment– Set up relevant development environments– Re-familiarize yourself with your development

environments• Less fumbling, the better

– Feel free to contact your teammates

Q&A

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Thank You• Mozilla

• Google

• Project:Possibility

• ACM Executive Board– Nima Nikzad and Sachin Thakkar

• You, for being part of SS12

• Remember to submit your project preferences tonight!

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