BLACKSBURG, Va., March 20, 2015 – AddHawk is a group of Computer Science students taking their Human-Computer Interaction capstone project to a massive scale. They begun working on an application called PixelPusher, a massive crowdsourced display in Lane Stadium, using all the attendees mobile device screens as pixels.
Updates on PixelPusher:
This week the AddHawk team spent a lot of time setting up the back end of the project, more specifically the server. Most of the week was used to get ready to dive head first into coding and creating the application. This included working to set up the Phalcon PHP framework on each person’s computer, retrieving root access to the server, and deciding on what platform to develop the application (mobile or web).
Initially a few challenges were encountered when setting up the server with Phalcon but after some research and consulting with our domain specialist, Dr. Kurt Luther, all of the problems were resolved. As was mentioned earlier, the team also decided which direction it wants to head in with the development of PixelPusher. After discussing the pros and cons of Android, Apple, and a web application the AddHawk team decided to first develop the application on Android and then add different platform options as needed. While the original plan was to develop for both Android and Apple devices, after doing research into the logistics behind retrieving a developer’s license and distributing an application on the iOS App Store the team found that it was not possible in the given time period.
“A developer license for Apple costs close to 100 dollars and the standard wait period for releasing your first app onto the app store is around 6 weeks. Looking at the time we have left in the semester and the resources given to our team, it is not feasible to develop in both Android and Apple.” explains frontend developer Dillon Gresham.
The team also feels that if a web based application is necessary one can be quickly created once the framework of the application has been set up.
A Look into the Future:
The majority of the time in the upcoming weeks will be spent creating an interface for Android phones as well as continuing production of the servers and backend to optimize the application’s performance. A lightweight and intentionally limited interface is focus in these beginning stages of development. Once we get the interface up and running, it will be connected with the backend services in order to allow for preliminary testing and debugging. In addition to this Android interface, the team will begin development of an admin control panel accessible via a web platform. This control panel will then be linked with the Android interface and backend services to allow for communication between these two entities.
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.
“AddHawk 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. ”
For more information or questions please contact: cmw2379@vt.edu
