Month: February 2015

Press release #2: Gaming Social Network Researches for Development

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Blacksburg, Va., Feb. 12, 2015 ­

J5 has completed its competitive analysis and literature review for the Gaming Social Network!

The goal of the competitive analysis was to see what other services are out there that are similar to the Gaming Social Network and how do they compare. J5 found ten different services that provide similar features to this network and rated them on a scale from one to five on how well they met J5’s criteria.

Team member Daniel Rusz said, “We can see which services compete with our own and judge how significant our competition is”.

By viewing the score that each service received, J5 can determine where they need to excel in order to surpass their strongest competitors. This is highly useful information that is necessary to know in order to make this application successful.

J5’s literature review provided them with many useful resources to help them design their application. We have reports that their sources range from social network analysis to mobile application design.

Team member Parham Ghazanfari said “It seems like we’ve got enough information to start our contextual inquiry.”

The competitive analysis and literature review provided a significant amount of information regarding the features their network should include as well as how the network should be constructed. They also provided significant insight on how mobile databases should be maintained as well.

Team member Iyaz Shaikh said “It’s important to consider more than just the core functionality of our app. We also have to consider the potential complications of maintaining a database of user profiles as well as a network.”

Now that J5 has the competitive analysis and literature review behind them, they can begin focusing on what their target audience wants and expects from the Gaming Social Network.

J5 – “Let’s Play Together” Contact person: Lucas Eckert <lucase93@vt.edu>

Press release #2: Pass It On! Preparing for the Future

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Blacksburg ,Va, February 20th, 2015 ­

This past week was an exciting one. Despite the snow, our team worked hard, conducting due diligence as we analyzed our competition and began research on our market. We have found that we have the opportunity to fill a unique niche, a time bank system that unlike existing systems, will not be limited to a specific region, but available to any location where people are willing to participate. There are other systems similar to what we want to do but they are plagued by a few things, including but not limited to restricted effective area, unorganized leadership, subject to taxes, etc.

Here are some interesting facts about time banking that you may not have known.

● Time banking provides a sense of comradery to a community.
● The United States government cannot tax time.
● Alternative currency provides a sense of security that conventional currency does not.
● Brings a sense of equality to all people diminishing the wealth gap that can be prominent in communities.

As we finish our due diligence and research so that we can develop the most appropriate service possible, we will take our beginning steps to design and structure, in turn bringing us one step closer to the release of Pass It On!

In the coming weeks we plan on having our primary design set up, and then conducting usability testing to assure that our design is intuitive and appropriate. If you are interested in participating as a usability tester, please send an e­mail to our contact, Alex Ciccone, whose e­mail is listed at the top of this release.

We will soon have a mailing list to receive updates, as well as a facebook page.

“The idea is called time banking, and it is based on the simple notion that time is equal for all people. In this system, services can be exchanged based on how long it takes to complete them, rather than on a market value determined by supply and demand. Raking the local massage therapist’s leaves for one hour can be traded for a 60­minute Swedish massage, in other words.”

USA News

Time Banks provide New Way to Spend an Hour

Press release #2: PixelPusher Delves into Research and Enters Disillusionment Phase

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BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 20, 2015 – PixelPusher is a group of Computer Science students taking their Human­Computer Interaction capstone project to a massive scale. They begun working on a massive crowdsourced display in Lane Stadium, using all the attendees mobile device screens as pixels. This type of project, mobile phone mosaics, has been attempted by several companies before, including Sony, HTC, and Blinkendroid. “The current guinness world record is 400 devices, we’re optimistically looking at 50,000.” said PixelPusher developer Michael Peter. The current record belongs to China Unicom, Sohu IT and HTC which used 400 HTC One devices in July of 2013, playing a one minute advertisement. This project could beat that record by over a hundred times the amount of screens.

Updates from PixelPusher: This week we thoroughly researched our current competitors and contemporaries by conducting a competitive analysis, a literary review, and created an annotated bibliography. We discovered a variety of applications that enable multiple devices to display shared image, video, and audio streams in real time through crowd­sourcing the connected users. Some of the notable applications discovered through research include Mosaic, Junkyard Jumbotron, and PixelPhones, which are all open­source and currently in development. We have also looked into the important issue of how the network of connected devices contained within our application should be constructed. We have found various implementations of network architectures through our competitive analysis and research that we are looking into currently in order to determine which strategy fits our needs best. In addition to research, we had the opportunity to meet with our project sponsor, Benjamin Knapp. We also met with Matthew Favaro, who developed a prototype of our application and conducted preliminary research and of the PixelPusher idea. During our meeting, Benjamin mentioned the possibility of including audio streams in addition to images and video. We also discussed the current state of Lane Stadium’s lack of Wi­Fi or 4G signal, among other things.

A Look Into the Future: We plan on continuing to look into possible solutions to the connectivity problems at Lane Stadium. After analyzing a number of scholarly articles we feel that we are close to determining the best fix for this issue. We aim to meet again with our sponsor and possibly the Athletic Director to discuss which solution they feel will work best for the stadium. PixelPusher is also looking into the various available solutions to the problem of networking connected devices in our system. Looking to our competitors as well as our research will guide us in determining the best architecture to use for this.

Mission Statement: PixelPusher will allow football fans in Lane Stadium at Virginia Tech to display individual pixels on their phones which are part of a larger image. In this way PixelPusher acts as a crowd­sourced collaboration application that will bring together football fans everywhere. PixelPusher also aims to break the current world record of 400 connected devices. The application will be developed with the idea of simplicity and efficiency at heart, providing a lightweight, seamless user interface to football fans at Virginia Tech. “PixelPusher Studios is an up and coming software development initiative aimed at revolutionizing how a single member of a crowd can have a huge impact on an event. ”

Contact Person: Christopher Wood cmw2379@vt.edu

 

Press release #2: War of Ages

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Blacksburg, VA; February 20, 2015

Development of War of Ages is en-route. After a much-needed conference, teammates Joe Wileman, Vasily Prokhorov, Scott Fraser, and AJ Fritsch agreed on the theme, map, and gameplay mechanics of War of Ages.

Expanding on previous rumors, War of Ages will feature a 9 x 9 environment-changing PvP board (map). Before the game starts, each player will view the map, select a race, and select 5 units from that race to represent their army. When it is their turn, the player will receive an additional “mana crystal” to summon their units. There is a max of 10 crystals, so after 10 turns each player will have access to all crystals every proceeding turn. Before the game begins, each player will place 5 mines on their “home turf” followed by 5 random mines generated randomly across the center of the map. Units can spawn on the edge closest the player, except on their base.

Unit mechanics and balance are in development, but rest assured they will be fierce fighting machines ready for war! Terrain is another feature in development in War of Ages, as each race has a unique role depending on the type of environment on the map. In the coming weeks we hope to have races, units, and social developments in pre-production. Until then, we await updating you on the newest features to our world conquering game: War of Ages!

For more information contact Joe Wileman.

Press release #2: It’s All To Do With Training

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Blacksburg, VA., Feb 20, 2015 – “It’s all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you’re properly trained.” – Queen Elizabeth. Before athletes perform on game day, they spend a lot of time in preparation and training. Before students take a test, they spend a good amount of time studying, and in essence, training. Before we take on this big project, we’ll spend time in research and in preparation.

This week, we conducted a literary review and analysis. We searched for articles that would provide possible research and information towards our system of “photo clouds”. “We are trying to get a grasp of current social media trends to determine if there is a desire for the system like the one we are designing,” said Matt. Through analysis, we recognized a need for a powerful back end system. Security and stability will be the key focus for the back end.

In addition, we conducted a competitive analysis by creating a competitor matrix. Our group pursued applications with similar goals as our goals. We picked Xim, Carousel, Flickr, Sharypic, Cluster, Picasa, Phanfare, SmugMug, Shutterfly, Facebook, Eversnap, and Instagram. Also, we brainstormed possible dimensions based on some of the goals. The matrix was created and formed an analysis for each application. One thing we learned was that some of the applications that we initially liked had big cons.

The Photo Clouds Team is a team of three senior level computer science students at Virginia Tech: Matthew Bock, Romico Macatula, and Tyler Haines. All three of them have extensive skill sets in computer science after their years of study. With several semesters of experience in the field of human­-computer interaction at their disposal, the team is dedicated to creating the best experience possible for their users through rigorous testing and design iteration.

 

Press release #2: Civil War driving tour app developers research previous and current work in the field

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BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 20, 2015 – Despite the cold, snowy weather interfering with a scheduled team meeting, Laura Avakian, Ryan Kiel, and Seth Cannon proceeded to research what has already been done and what is currently working in the field of tourism and driving tour apps.

They gathered 30 articles from ACM’s database using a variety of keywords that had to do with tourism and driving tour apps, and looked for similarities between the articles to see what common themes existed to see what has worked, what currently works,and what might make their own project work. The team also did a comparative matrix and competitive analysis for 10 different apps that already exist .

Additionally, the team reached out to Paul Quigley and have scheduled a meeting with him next week so they can get a better idea of what direction the team is going to take the app, and what sort of features the app should implement.

The three developers are excited to meet with Mr. Quigley and to design the app itself.

The team, formerly named “Kool Katz,” has decided to come up with a more relevant title that is to be determined. This should be determined by next week, so look out for next week’s press release to find out what it will be.

Contact Laura Avakian for any further inquiries.

Press release #1: Gaming Social Network Brings Gamers Together

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Blacksburg, Va., Feb. 12, 2015 – Four Seniors studying Computer Science begin development on a Social Networking app that aims to “bring gamers together.”

With video games on the rise, the size of online communities based around them are increasing dramatically each day. Today we have so many different avenues for people to play such as mobile gaming, PC gaming through Steam and League of Legends, and console games for the Xbox One, PS4, and Wii U. We also have many more people playing these games. For instance, League of Legends has a playerbase of 27 million people. In addition, mobile gaming has taken the world by storm, with over 152 million people in North America and 742 million people in the Asian/Pacific area playing mobile games. With these statistics in mind, it is safe to say that gaming is now a more socially acceptable hobby.

Gaming communities are made up of people of all ages, all over the world. But despite the increase in popularity, some still associate gamers with certain personality quirks like being anti-social or “nerdy.” Therefore, it is not the most common talking point among strangers.

J5 Team member Iyaz Shaikh, hopes that the team can work around that stereotype.

“People tend not to talk about gaming because of the stigma associated with it. We want to give people an easy way to meet other gamers with similar interests without having to feel weird about asking if they game.”

The team seeks to blend the social aspect of online games with local day-to-day relationships. With the internet being so readily available to everyone, interacting online has become a popular way to meet new people. J5 wants to harness this power to help gamers connect to each other.

Team member Lucas Eckert sees the potential to bring the friendships from the internet to your door; so you are not only playing games with new people, but meeting up and having dinner with them too.

“Usually gamers meet solely over the internet but they are still developing real friendships. The nature of a team based game lends itself to be the perfect ice breaker: Members of the team have a topic of discussion, a common goal and are doing something together they enjoy.”

With this in mind, J5 is developing a new application that will make it easier than ever for local gamers to find each other and play. The Gaming Social Network is new mobile application that will find other people in your area that are interested in the same games.

Team member Daniel Rusz believes “This is a great way for gamers to be social”.

Users will be able to make new friends in their area with the same interests, leading to a better gaming and social experience for everyone.

Team member Parham Ghazanfari stated “All of the J5 members are gamers and we want to make an application that even we would use.”

J5 have currently formed a group of highly interested, motivated computer science students to begin development. The team has shared ideas and researched what features the application will need to entice their audience and motivate new people to use it. The next step in the process will be constructing the design plan for the layout of the specific features in the application.

When this application is complete, people will find it easier than ever before to find friends in their area to game with.

J5 – “Let’s Play Together”

Contact person: Lucas Eckert <lucase93@vt.edu>

Related Articles: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/league-of-legends-now-boasts-27-million-daily-players/1100-6417374/

http://www.statista.com/statistics/297874/number-mobile-gamers-region/

Press release #1: PixelPusher Begins Work on Lane Stadium Innovation

Kurt Luther Leave a comment

BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 13, 2015 – PixelPushers is a group of Computer Science students taking their Human-Computer Interaction capstone project to a massive scale. They begun working on a massive crowdsourced display in Lane Stadium, using all the attendees mobile device screens as pixels. This type of project, mobile phone mosaics, has been attempted by several companies before, including Sony, HTC, and Blinkendroid.  “The current guinness world record is 400 devices, we’re optimistically looking at 50,000.” said PixelPusher developer Michael Peter. The current record belongs to China Unicom, Sohu IT and HTC which used 400 HTC One devices in July of 2013, playing a one minute advertisement. This project could beat that record by over a hundred times the amount of screens.

Updates from PixelPusher:

This week we have begun project research. In a place as crowded as Lane Stadium, it becomes tough for multiple smart phones to quickly communicate information. We have a number of open options that we have been discussing in regards to the connection problems the application might face. Possible solutions include using BlueTooth, tethering, among other options.

This past Friday, 2/13/2015, we met with our sponsor, Benjamin Knapp, who will be guiding us and giving us insight into the specifics involved with developing the application as well as the current state of the project up to this point. We also met with Matthew Favero, the original project developer, and got insight into where he succeeded, and had trouble.

Our team is very excited to bring this project to fruition and look forward to releasing updates in the near future. “It is very rare to be able to work on a project like this that will affect so many in our community at Virginia Tech” said developer Christopher Wood. Look for us in the next few weeks to keep up to date on what is happening at PixelPusher Studios.

A Look Into the Future:

We have been and will continue to research solutions and possible ideas for our implementation. With projects the size of this one, the solution comes in many different shapes and sizes so we will thoroughly research as many angles as possible before starting development in the next couple weeks.

As this project takes shape, look forward to exciting new updates and potential beta test events where we can demo and test out our software to gain feedback. We are excited at where this project is heading and hope you feel the same.

Mission Statement:

PixelPusher will allow football fans in Lane Stadium at Virginia Tech to display individual pixels on their phones which are part of a larger image. In this way PixelPusher acts as a crowd-sourced collaboration application that will bring together football fans everywhere. PixelPusher also aims to break the current world record of 400 connected devices. The application will be developed with the idea of simplicity and efficiency at heart, providing a lightweight, seamless user interface to football fans at Virginia Tech.

“PixelPusher Studios is an up and coming software development initiative aimed at revolutionizing how a single member of a crowd can have a huge impact on an event. ”

Contact Person: Christopher Wood cmw2379@vt.edu

Press release #1: War of Ages

Kurt Luther Leave a comment

Blacksburg, VA; February 13, 2015 – Joe Wileman, Vasily Prokhorov, Scott Fraser, and AJ Fritsch announced the development of their new mobile game, War of Ages. Inspired by games like Stratego, Chess, and Minesweeper, War of Ages is a 1v1 turn based strategy game where you must reach your opponents base before they reach yours.

Use your 10-unit army to protect your base and destroy your opponent! As the warmongering player you are, you have units such as mortars, scouts, and mines at your disposal. Plant mines to protect your territory, but beware….You are fighting on an ancient battlefield littered with hidden traps from battles past. The Fields of Ruin, once home of an ancient race, this land has been manipulated by war and grief, until all that remained is the promise of battle.

Choose to ally with one of three races, each with their own abilities. Create custom landscapes to challenge your friends and rival guilds across distant lands. “It will be the most explosive turn-based game on the app store… literally!” said Joe Wileman, one of the head developers on this project. “We are really excited about our next project and can’t wait to start production”.

War of Ages is a turn-based grid strategy game where players do battle on ancient playgrounds of war, conquest, and blowing crap up! You, the player, have a mission to conquer your opponent’s base before they conquer yours. With three races to choose as your ally and an army at your disposal, the world is yours to take in War of Ages!

For more information contact Joe Wileman.

Press release #1: Programmers, developers gather for HCI class to discuss upcoming project

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BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 13, 2015 — A couple students, Laura Avakian, Ryan Kiel, and Seth Cannon, in Kurt Luther’s Human-Computer Interaction Capstone class gathered for class to discuss an upcoming project. They are going to be developing a driving tour for Civil War places in southwest Virginia.

They have settled with creating an iOS app. This is mainly because the bulk of the group’s skillset that is relevant to what the project requires is experience with Swift, Apple’s programming language for apps.

“I’m so excited for this project,” exclaims team member Ryan Kiel. “I think it will be fun to develop and fun to use. I love history,” says team member Laura Avakian.

At the moment, the team has begun to discuss ideas surrounding what features this project will be focused on providing to the consumer. They are focused on being innovative while fulfilling the client’s needs. The members have decided to name their team “Kool Katz.”

This project is important because it will provide Civil War enthusiasts, as well as the general public, with an opportunity to learn more about the Blacksburg area and its relevance to the Civil War, a major historical turning point.

The next steps involve contacting the client, Paul Quigley, the Directory of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, as well as meeting outside of class to further discuss the plan for the project’s development.

Contact Laura Avakian for any further inquiries.