Author: Madhu Guruprasad

Week 4

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We had a lot of fun being pretend doctors!

This week had 2 major highlights –

  1. Team Branding
  2. Design, decisions!

We had worked on the team branding material, everything from our logo to the poster and half sheet, last week and had a version 1 ready. We started this week with a feedback session on monday, where we received some excellent feedback from our faculty and peers on the designs. We dove right into working on them, and improving our team branding. The final branding was due on Friday, and overall we are really happy with our final design.

For our project, we had split our concept into 4 modules. For each of the 4 modules, we had to make decisions about the design.

1.  Scan module – We had 2 options here:

    • Simulate a physical scan by projecting onto the guest’s body
    • Using kinect, show the scan simulation in the virtual world

For now, we are attempting to build a small prototype with a projector to test how it will be perceived. We are also doing some tests on kinect.

Next week, based on these test results, we will have a definite plan for this module.

2.  Diagnosis and Consultation – Again we had 2 options here:

    • We could use 3D models and render it using a game engine, to have a completely animated avatar for the doctor
    • Use a live actor on a green screen and integrate it into the virtual world

We discussed this with our client in detail, and decided to go with the green screen approach as it would be less time consuming and more realistic.

3.  Upgrade options – Although this wasn’t a major decision point, we need to come up with a way to integrating this module with the rest of the project. We are planning on building a system that would randomize the upgrade options and building a UI framework that we can use along with the Designer babies module.

4.  Designer Babies – We were debating on whether or not to scope this with the project. We discussed this with our client and understood that this module was a priority. So, we will be working on this module before we work on the upgrade options module.

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We also had Rich Hilleman, Chief Creative Officer, Gautam Singaraju, Platform Engineer, and Emily Tunnicliffe, Manager Software Engineer Campus Teams, visiting our project. We gave a short presentation about our project and the ideas we were working on. We received some really great inputs from them, which we are planning on implementing.

Next week, we have our Quarters presentation, where we present the work we have done so far and the direction we will be heading in. We look forward to the feedback from faculty and guests.

 

Week 3

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We started the week by brainstorming and solidifying 3 ideas. We made rough videos to illustrate the ideas better.

 The core idea behind all the three ideas are –

  1. Illustrate the use of current cutting edge technologies
  2. Make the guest feel like a hero

Idea 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQBmdHIUSzY

Here, the guest is a doctor in present day, transported to the future in a time machine, to visit a world renowned nature retreat. Upon arrival, the guest realizes that there has been a freak tsunami, and the communication links have been destroyed. The guest then experiences the advancements in medical technology, while performing first aid on the survivors.

Idea 2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzwKanymQn8

In this idea, we wanted to tell the story of the doctor of the future cures various diseases using advancements in technology.

Idea 3 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNmndzIlOcc

In this idea, the guest gets to play as a non-human, robotic doctor, working in a futuristic town, and provides medical assistance to people where they are. It uses non-invasive techniques and advanced technologies.

     On presenting these ideas to our client, we realized that they do not match the vision our client has for the project. He wanted a more quirky, provocative and bold vision of the future of medicine, that would make the guest to think about and have an opinion about how these technologies will change lives.

After brainstorming some more, we came up with the following plan –

  • Scan the guest using a fake laser and provide 3 health care options.
  • Option 1 – Schedule visit to the doctor
    •     Doctor is a maverick character, like a used car salesman
    •     He talks about the health issues that the guest is facing.
    •     The diagnosis includes a major health issue that is currently not curable.
    •     The report also includes some minor issues
    •     The cure for the major issue turns out to be something trivial – like taking pills for 10 days
    • The medication is also sold trivially – with ad banners etc
  • Option 2 – Upgrades on organs and body parts
    •     Get an athlete’s heart for a few thousand points
    •     Get an upgrade for your retinal implant
    •     Upgrade on the AT&T (Telepathy) implant program to talk across the Solar System!

 … (We will think of more such ideas)

  • Option 3 – Design your baby using genetic engineering
    •    Get a reminder that the baby-design plan is about to expire
    •    Spouse working on a different planet collaborates on the decision
    •    Select DNA based on the traits they want
    •    They can also choose from the genetic material of Facebook friends who have shared their genetic information
    •    Choose traits from celebrities who have shared their genetic information

    … (We will think of more such ideas)

  • At the end of the experience we take feedback from guests – What are their thoughts on this one possible future of medicine? 15 second video that records the guests opinion about the vision of the future presented.

Team Branding – We also worked extensively on branding our project team. Our artist and designer, Akshaya and Hurricane, have researched different font styles and poster designs, coming up with multiple options. We will be submitting it for the faculty review next week, and then finalizing our brand. Hurricane also redesigned our website, to give it a more edgy and futuristic look, in keeping with the theme of our project.

 

Week 2

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The second week of Fall 2013 passed in a blaze of activity. We had the whole team together, and met our client over skype for the first time. We had our list of questions and ideas ready.

However, our ideas were rather conservative and serious. But now that we have the license to go all out, we are excited and look forward to making something really fun.

The key aspects of the project will be –

  1. Human story
  2. Visual elements
  3. To get people to think about how to get from now to the vision presented
  4. Fun for the guests
  5. The project may be showcased at Innovation labs

Some of the ideas we brainstormed with our client are –

  1. Guests can see inside their bodies, like, say, a digestive system view, in real time, and issues with organs can be highlighted
  2. Genetics – “design your baby” and how one gene expression affects the others
  3. 3D printing of organs and tissues – not just for wear-and-tear but also with, say, super powers!
  4. Technology implants – Google Cornea or a Retina display on our Retina!

We promised our client that we will continue to brainstorm ideas through the week, and get back to him on coming Monday.

In our team meetings we brainstormed ideas further, and consulted with our advisers and faculty.

The medical technologies that piqued our interest the most were –

  • Nanobots
  • Designing or manipulating our genes
  • 3D printing tissues and organs
  • The skin gun – spraying on tissue for skin grafting
  • Oxygen Microspheres

The scenarios or human stories we want to see these technologies in are –

  • Curing cancer
  • Disaster management
  • Curing birth deformities in fetuses
  • Handling brain damage/memory loss
  • Exploring other planets
  • Simulating surgery/self surgery
  • Journey inside human body

Over the weekend, we plan to work on presenting these ideas in a more visual manner.

We also started working on our project branding, by collecting reference art and photos, and analyzing previous ETC project branding. We setup the basic wordpress site for the project with an appropriate theme.

We hope to lock down an idea next week, and start thinking about viable technologies for interactivity.

 

Week 1

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The first week of the Fall 2013 started off great here at ETC. The team gathered on the first day in our project room, and set up our computers. We started discussing our project, and what our individual visions of the project was. We set up a Google Plus community to track our ideas and references, as it provides a very visual layout. We also set up a Trello Organisation for project management.

We met with our advisers, Scott and Shirley, and discussed a gamut of topics pertaining to the project, from logistics to high level conceptual ideas. After the meeting, we were excited to get started on the project, and felt confident about the support we have for the road ahead.

One of our team members, Akshaya was in India this week, for her sister’s wedding. So, we scheduled a google hangout with her on friday, and brainstormed ideas for the project and for our team name. We decided on TransNeuroSia – a word Hurricane came up with that is a portmanteau to evoke a vision of being transported to the future of human biology and medicine. It fits in nicely with our project.

Brainstorming for our project, we came up with three main categories of ideas –

  • An interactive experience on Glass using projectors and Leap Motion for control

  • Augment Reality in mobile devices

  • Games that would simulate the experience of working in a futuristic hospital

We also scheduled a meeting with our client next week, and look forward to meeting him.