photoArt

2018

PhotoArt creates a creative modern drawing from a picture. By analysing the brightness of different pixels, photoArt is able to recreate shapes from the picture in random colours to achieve a unique and artistic style.

Link to the project: photoart.manuel.bz

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DiabetiX

2015

DiabetiX is a smartphone App developed in Java using Android Studio for Android smartphones. User are able to keep track of their blood sugar values as well as their physical activity and diet. DiabetiX is than able to calculate the amount of insulin needed for a specific meal. DiabetiX has a built in database with hundreds of ingredients and lets you also add custom meals for a faster calculation.

CY Aquarii WebService

2016

The CY Aquarii WebService and website allows the user to calculate brightness-level maximums for the pulasting star CY-Aquarii. The user can upload a measured brightness by time curve which can then be displayed graphically and processed by a series of dedicated mathematical algorithms. The system is built with a HTML & JS frontend and a SOAP WebService in C#

Link to the project: 195.201.105.189/aquarii

Traveling Salesman Problem

2014

A custom built heuristic algorithm implemented in Java with a GUI that allows the user to click on a number of different places on a map (indoor or outdoor) which shortest distance gets calculated in real time. It follows the theorem of "The Traveling Salesman".

Sandgible

2019

Sandgible is a device to learn and practice Chinese Hanzi characters. Instead of drawing with pen and paper or a regular touchscreen, Sandgible consists of a sand surface that users can draw on while being digitalized in real-time. This sand surface comes with it's own tactile feel and haptic feedback and no interaction artefact (f. ex. pencil) sits between the user and the interactive surface (in case of users preference a brush can be used instead). These aspects lead to a new kind interaction that combines elements from traditional frameworks and approaches of learning Chinese with the calming feeling of zen gardens.

Sandgible can also be used as a framework to digitalize all kind of drawings in sand. Having a pseudo-3D input field, the depth of the sand in a specific position on the surface can be recognized within a certain range of thickness. This opens up possibilities for all kinds of applications, from using it as a basic drawing and prototyping tool, all the way to create depth geo maps and landscapes.

I conducted this project with a number of three other group members over a time period of 6 weeks. Next to the tasks that we carried out all together (desk research, brainstorming, user testing, reflection upon findings and writing the final report) my role was the one of the responsible for all kinds of technical aspects, programming and used technology. Sandgible splits up in a JavaScript based frontend and a Python & Raspberry Pi based backend which are both implemented by me. The backend of the System sits within the Sandgible's box consisting of a RPi and it's camera module. This system then uses OpenCV and some of its computer vision functionalities to detect how much light shines through the sand surface and develops this into a visual output. This visual output gets then picked up upon by the frontend system consisting of an external laptop as well as a projector mounted on top of the sand surface and projected back on top of the sand. Using projection mapping Sandgible is also able to project this live feedback back not only onto the sand surface but also back on the exact same position that the user is interacting with.