Monday, January 30, 2017

Design a Scene Response


Individual Written Responses
After completing your project, respond to each of the following reflection questions. Your response to any one prompt must not exceed 300 words.
a. Provide an overview of the purpose of your program and how your program code works. Describe the most important program features, rather than providing a line-by-line summary of the program code.

The purpose of my program was to set the background for the digital scene by group planned on creating. The digital scene is space. My program coded for the black color background with white specks to represent the stars. The most important program features of my code was using the loop to randomize the position of 1500 stars I wanted to create in order to fill the background but still be spaced out. This significantly reduced my line of code because I didn’t have to write the code for each individual code. This would have been tedious and not efficient.


b. Describe the most difficult programming problem you encountered while writing your individual code. What was the difficulty? Explain how you resolved it.

My code was simple. The most difficult programming problem I encountered while writing my individual code was figuring how to correctly depict what I wanted. I knew the lines of code needed but a missing line of code drew dots with connected lines. For example, in my first attempt of drawing my portion of the scene, the stars were connected by lines. To resolve this, I inserted a Pen up in the loop function so the Turtle would not draw a line as it moved to draw the individual stars.


c. Identify an abstraction used in your program and explain how it helped manage the complexity of your program.
An abstraction is pulling out specific difference to make one solution work for multiple
problems.  An example of an abstraction in my individual code is the loop. The loop helped manage the complexity because it allowed me to repeat the process of drawing the stars without me writing an individual code for each one. Without it, I would have to write long lines of code.

d. Explain in detail points in your development process where collaboration was used.
○ Describe the form of collaboration you used. Refer to Process section A-E in your description.
○ Explain how this collaboration affected your program development. Cite specific examples from the collaboration, such as how the group worked together to arrive at solutions, or feedback that you gave and received.
Collaboration was used to firstly brainstorm possible ideas and to decide on one scene to create. We then used the top-down design to break up the different parts that make up the scene. Each team member choose a part corresponding to the scene. My group’s digital scene was space. I coded the background and the stars. Another person programed the planets. Another did the meteor showers . While another coded a rocket. The form of collaboration we used was E. As stated earlier, we brainstormed ideas and worked on it independently. Once we were all done we combined each pieces of the program. The only collaboration not used was Pair Programming. Each member worked on their program themselves.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Data Innovation One-pager

Data Innovation

    My innovation research is on Fitbits. Fitbit is a physical activity tracker--a  portable electrocardiogram. It is important because it can inform a doctor on the health condition of their patients even when they are at home. It can help everyday people track their activities, food, exercise, sleep, stay fit and ultimately meet their fitness goal. It can sync with smart devices with the help of Bluetooth 4.0. Fitbit even has an open Application Program Interface (API) which allows the users to develop applications to access and modify the their data. The more advanced Fitbits includes features beyond fitness. It can function as a smart watch. It be used for music control, call and text notification, time tracking, and it is compatible with other apps. It is a 21st century pedometer included with features needed for today!

About the Data

Throughout the day, Fitbit logs information about activities the user partakes in. Fitbits has a built-in GPS. Fitbits uses GPS to produce the amount of steps taken, the speed travelled and Fitbit has a chip a built-in OLED (organic light-emitting diode). The chip has a three dimensional accelerometer system which allows it to track motion and its intensity. It uses PurePulse technology for an automatic, continuous heart rate. Similar to most technologies, Fitbit is powered by batteries. Every 15 minutes, the Fitbit will upload data to the user’s computer providing it is within the range of a base station, the computer is on, and connected to internet. The collected data is stored in the cloud. The Fitbit company collects the data in the form of algorithms and uses it to customize exercises for the users and also send it to the user’s online profile. Fitbit does not share personal data and allows its users to decide which of their information gets shared. Fitbits also promises to only collect data it needs to improve its products and services. This is important for those who are concerned about big data and privacy.

Example

The visual is depicting some of the tracking capabilities of the Fitbit. Included in the visual is an example of how Fitbit records the calorie burned, steps taken and it’s uses to track how far the user is before completing their goal. Along the way, achievement awards are giving to motivate the user to meet their fitness goal.  The source of the visual is the company’s online manual. https://www.fitbit.com/manual#section-start

Source

"Designer." Fitbit Official Site for Activity Trackers & More. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2017. http://www.fitbit.com/home
The majority of the information came from the company only website.
          "Gadgets Like Fitbit Are Remaking How Doctors Treat You." Wired. Conde Nast, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2017. <https://www.wired.com/2014/03/internet-things-health/>.