Concepts for Final Project

My motivations can be summarized roughly according to the domains I've detailed in the diagram.

Science

For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by science. From a very young age, I devoured books on dinosaurs and space. I really enjoy seeing how the world works, and science, in its many fields, has provided me with a window onto that. I went to a science and technology high school, where I first developed a love for biology and engineering, and I graduated from college with a degree in anthropology. Following school, I dove into computers and taught myself comp sci and the math and theory behind it. By training, at least, I am a scientist.

Ethics

I've been curious about ethical choices for almost as long as science. Partly due to my upbringing and partly my own pig-headedness, I'm stubbornly in defense of my beliefs about fairness and equality. I believe that information should be free for everyone. I believe that people and countries with many resources have a moral obligation to act for the benefit of the less fortunate. I believe, in so doing, that the fortunate benefit from this as well: a rising tide lifts all boats.

Physical Computing and Wireless

Both of the areas are new to me, and I love novelty. Both provided interesting approaches to problems that arise from both my scientific and ethical senses: How can people without money or infrastructure begin to organize their lives for the better? How can solutions be created from inexpensive parts through methods that are easily reproduced? What are the technical and human possibilities that we haven't yet considered?

Games

Games are fun. They're also interesting windows onto human behavior, as well as possibly powerful tools for education and understanding. They also give people the ability to examine realities that exist only in potential space for now, which could aid science and humanity via further investigation.

My notes follow:

• Wireless
• protocols
• RFID
• NFC
• ZigBee
• Bluetooth
• IR
• 802.11b/g/+
• RS232/TTL
• mobile apps
• games
• protests
• locative media
• new device pairings

• Physical Computing
• Prototyping
• Rapid
• indigenous material
• enviromentally friendly
• Custom-built devices
• freedom/open source
• site/task specific
• generalized new interfaces
• Easily replicated
• instructable
• Make
• RepRap
• New Senses
• Haptics
• Tactors
• Synaesthesia
• robotics
• AI
• swarms
• subsumation architecture

• Games
• Theory
• Education
• Toolkits
• Educational Games
• Real-world application
• modelling biological systems
• Formats
• Electronic
• Paper/Card/Physical

• Ethics
• Aid to the Developing World
• inexpensive products
• local labor/material
• connectivity to world
• Open Source
• Open Content

• Science
• AI
• Smart or Dumb
• Novel intelligences
• Emotion
• Biological Systems
• Evolution
• Natural selection
• Emergence
• Intelligence
• Flocking
• Insect Behavior
• Information Theory
• Search
• Data mining