All posts by admin

Nancy Hechinger

Tunnel Vision

William Lindmeier

Tunnel Vision turns any NYC subway subway map into an interactive experience. Point your phone at an official MTA map and bring it to life with data about the subway, the city, and the people who live here.

http://tunnelvisionapp.com

Description

The image of the MTA subway map is distinctive and ubiquitous throughout New York. Tunnel Vision uses the map as a platform to explore the city through data-visualization. The app pulls data from a variety of sources and seamlessly integrates them into the map by drawing over the camera feed.

When a rider is waiting for the subway, she points her phone at the map to activate Tunnel Vision. The map comes to life with animations that add context to the ridership experience. By simply moving the phone around the map, she can explore many kinds of data including turnstile activity, rent prices, income, etc..

Tunnel Vision adds a layer of insight to a familiar image.

Nancy Hechinger

Maker SynBio: Empowering Biodevelopers with Automation

Will Canine

I have developed a new open, automated, and easy way of creating novel genetic constructs using the OpenTrons robotic lab platform. My goal is to bring synthetic biology to the maker movement and accelerate the development of biotechnology.

Description

Today, it is much easier to design genetic pathways than to prototype and test them. Complicated, finicky, time consuming lab work is one of the biggest barriers to more rapid biotech innovation. An affordable, open synthetic biology automation system is the solution to this problem.

By combining the OpenTrons automation platform, Genomikon DNA prototyping protocol, and Synbiota open science hub, I was able to create such a system. This stack of technologies allows users to design DNA in software, run an automated assembly protocol to produce their plasmid design, and then share it with others. The whole thing costs less than $3000. We are poised to empower biodevelopers everywhere with the power of digitally controlled lab automation!

Nancy Hechinger

Roving Spectres

Wen Lei Ng

Roving Spectres is a traveling shadow theater. Taking inspiration from shadow puppetry, traveling tent shows, and physical computing, this project weaves narrative worlds out of nothing but light and shadow.

Description

In Roving Spectres, shadow and illumination serve as both performative and participatory mediums . A glowing suitcase containing kinetic paper sculptures, a performative glove, an emotive light umbrella — these re-appropriated objects transform into the performer's 'co-actors'. Each object is woven into a series of imaginary landscapes through their interactions with the performer.

With a suitcase, Roving Spectres brings the magic of live theatre to the people where they least expect it.

Katherine Dillon

Qaramon

Wajma Mohseni

Qaramon, which means "Champion" in Farsi, is a game aimed at future leaders of Afghanistan to increase awareness on corruption by enhancing player knowledge in a fun, interactive environment.

Description

In 2013, Afghanistan was declared the third most corrupt nation in the world. Corruption is so pervasive that paying a bribe has become part of daily life. Qaramon is a game that draws attention to the problems of corruption, which affects everyone, by increasing awareness and consciousness among future Afghan leaders, or the 15-20 year old age group. Each level tackles issues including ethics, reconstruction and economics, and allows players to control game direction while keeping the consequences of their actions clear through changing game dynamics, such as body shape and landscape. The final level utilizes collective scores to unify players to achieve a common goal, creating a cohesive system that encourages teamplay and collaboration.

Heather Greer

IJO

Vitor Freire

IJO is a movement that inspires people to dance in public spaces and engages them as part of a larger experience. It is an experiment in connecting people in different places through movements of the body. IJO means dance in the Yoruba language.

http://ijomove.us

Description

Imagine a group of kids break dancing in a park in New York and another group dancing Capoeira in a square in Sao Paulo. A body representation of each dancer is projected in both locations where either dancer can interact with each other. A dialogue is born between the participants and the interaction of the visual translation of the dancers. Move your body to tell who you are. 
Additionally, a fully customizable dynamic web data stream of the dancers movements is provided to all those interested in building visualizations and applications with the data. The visual component is accomplished through the use of Kinect sensors and projectors while Javascript is used to handle the data stream and interactions. 

Kathy Wilson

(m)EatLess

Vanessa Joho

(m)EatLess is a mobile application that uses gamification to influence users to lower their meat and cheese consumption in order to help avoid climate change. The less meat you eat the healthier your green companion, Rimo will be.

Description

Our diets cause more greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry companies. According to the UN, meat production is one of the most significant contributors to climate change. (m)EatLess is a mobile application that is tackling the issue by using gaming tactics to influence users to eat less meat and cheese. Rimo is the character in the app whose health gets affected by the user’s activity level. The more green tasks completed each day the healthier he will be.

Katherine Dillon

Pippin

Valerie Chen

Pippin is a themed hard cider bar that recreates a series of historical periods significant to the story of cider in America. As patrons navigate the space and engage in symbolic gestures, they experience being a different person in a different time.

Description

Apple trees are extreme heterozygotes: when grown from seed, instead of inheriting the characteristics of their parents, the traits of the new generation are wildly unpredictable. These capricious offspring are called pippins. Likewise, Pippin is a pop-up cider bar that takes on unpredictable forms. The entire space moves through three themes: an indoor garden paradise, a frontier log cabin, and an underground speakeasy. The themes correspond with historical moments that shaped the complicated relationship between Americans and the practice of drinking alcohol. The designs for Pippin's first iteration have been brought to life as a navigable digital environment where users can experience what such a place might look and feel like.

Gabe Barcia-Colombo

Lest We Forget

Todd Bryant

Lest We Forget is a video sculpture that serves to remind human kind about their impact on the earth while counting down to the end of the current civilization via their own devices – over population, climate change, depletion of natural resources.

Description

Lest We Forget is a video sculpture that serves as a reminder of the destruction man is inflicting on the natural world around them. The project will count down to an estimated moment when civilization must change because society as we are currently experiencing it can no longer function. The end date will fluctuate in real time as data will be streaming from various international resources on the internet. It consists of three layered semi-transparent LCD video screens. The middle layer is the clock face which will be blurred out at the begin with and coming into focus as time is more relevant and precious. The outer screens will show a representation of earth rotating in real time that will crumble as we destroy the planet.

Heather Greer

bodyRef

Tiffany Hewlett

bodyRef provides guidance to users on how to set and accomplish fitness and nutrition goals by utilizing a team of healthcare professionals (HCPs).

Description

With the assistance of a healthcare professional, users create a health profile and allow bodyRef access to their tracked data. bodyRef will annotate data summaries provided by the tracking device. Users can then accept or reject individual annotations noted on the data summaries. Accepted annotations will trigger personalized advice from HCPs who provide medical guidance on how to achieve goals throughout the week. To start, the intended audience will be high-risk individuals such as those diagnosed with metabolic disease. Moving forward, bodyRef audiences will be expanded to special populations such as pregnant women and the elderly. Even further down the line recovering athletes will become targeted users as well.

Gabe Barcia-Colombo

iCarbon

Tianyu Wu

The iCarbon is a houseplant gardening toolkit that indicates a user's personal carbon footprint data calculated through one's daily spending.

Description

Plants witness our carbon footprint daily. The iCarbon package provides a user with a resurrection plant and a toolkit that triggers an automated watering system. Resurrection plants have the ability to thrive when provided with water, but it also dehydrates quickly at the lack of water. The user's personal carbon footprint is calculated through his or her daily spending from his or her personal banking account. The system visualizes the user's carbon consumption using a real live plant and helps the user monitor it through an app. Furthermore, because of the user's emotional attachment to the plant, it nudges him or her to form a more responsible lifestyle.