Week 11

This week we learnt about Embedded Systems. Embedded systems serve a single purpose and utilise a microcontroller or DSP chip to carry out instructions – Often they are hidden in devices

Examples of Embedded systems:
Dishwasher
A new car
A data projector
A desktop colour printer
A DVD player
A Microwave Oven
Micro-controllers are a compact microcomputer designed to govern the operation of embedded systems. The typical microcontroller consists of a processors, memory and peripherals. Every microcontroller has its own instruction set.

There are two types of instructions sets:

CISC – Complex instruction set computer

Has a typically large set of possible instructions that might include mathematical functions
Specific ways of handling memory based instructions

RISC – Reduced instruction set computer

Typically small set of instructions
Specific ways of handling memory based instructions
Fetch-Execute:

A Fetch-Execute Cycle consists of 8 processes.

The Main Memory is where the data is stored.

The Program Counter – an incrementing counter that keeps track of the memory address of which instruction is to be executed next.

Memory Address Register (MAR) – the address in main memory that is currently being read or written

Memory Buffer Register (MBR) – a two-way register that holds data fetched from memory (and ready for the CPU to process) or data waiting to be stored in memory

Current Instruction Register (CIR)- a temporary holding ground for the instruction that has just been fetched from memory

Arithmetic-Logic Unit (ALU) – performs mathematical and logical operations

Data bus- carries data and instructions

Address Bus- is the processor that generates the addresses.

Week 10

This week we learnt what Screen Readers are and what their purpose is. We were given a website to read thoroughly :

http://www.nomensa.com/blog/2005/what-is-a-screen-reader

From this website and a couple of other websites, i learnt that a screen reader is a certain type of software program which works close with computer’s Operating System (OS).

The purpose of a Screen Reader is to help the blind or visual impaired users to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer or braille display

An example of a screen reader is the NVDA software. Once installed a voice navigates the user of where the curser is. the user can edit the voice by changing the type of voice into a female voice or a male voice. The user can alter the accent of the voice to make it more suitable to the user to understand according to where they are from.

Week 9

We learn how to create a persona. A persona is a social role or a character played by an actor. We were given 3 pictures, out these we were given 3 images to create a persona about. We used a website to help us create the persona.
Check out this website for more information (www.ux-lady.com)
We went through a few websites to get a better understanding about considering and evaluating the use and design of current input and output devices and how they promote accessibility for people with disabilities and people with non-standard requirements.

Visual Impairment Simulator for Microsoft Windows http://vis.cita.uiuc.edu/index.php
Guide for Individuals with Hearing Impairments. http://www.microsoft.com/enable/guides/hearing.aspx
Teaser – Introduction to Modern Brain-Computer Interface Design available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlwvgm3AHvc
You tube AbilityNet Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/abilitynet
One Thumb to Rule Them All http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2BhHwk9qSvI
We found out that we could do the following shown in the pictures on our desktop or laptop

Week 8

This week we learnt how to use Aurasma. This is a HP Autonomy’s augmented reality platform. It is available as an SDK or as a free app for iOS and Android mobile devices.

click on the website to start using aurasma (https://www.aurasma.com/)

Once we signed up and logged in we started creating an overlay.We used YouTube tutorials to us.

We later went ahead and downloaded the mobile application and went home and tried it.

With this application you can make your own images come to real by applying overlays of other images, videos or sound tracks.

You can download the application through the App Store or Play Store. And you can try it out on the example given in the images attached (the dollar pic).

Week 7

Virtual reality is based on a real time simulation allowing us to interact based on multiple sensors. Such systems are used in means like training of pilot in order to avoid human mistakes as well as preventing accidents.

Also, Virtual reality is more secure in order for a pilot to train since it would allow him to know concerning how actually a plane can be fly. if he try doing it directly without the usage of such a system, he can risk his life as well as crash an airplane.

There are different type of VR such as WoW(Windows Over World) as well as Immersive VR. There is also telepresence  there is also argumented reality, and distributed VR.

Application of VR can be in different systems such as Surgery, teaching new skills in a controlled environment as well as education and training.

We also learnt about the pros and cons of virtual reality which shows us that it is a high fidelity system, it is cost saving and collaborative and the cons are that it is expensive.

We also learnt how to create avatar

We also learnt about conversational robot like pandorabots

.

They are based on AIML (Artificial Intelligence Modelling Language) which is a simplistic pattern based language. it has a knowledge base of 40,000 patterns. the system do not usually understand the meaning and structure of words and sentences.

 

We were also introduced to virtual reality apps for phone

Week 4

Each student’s Intelligent environment exercises were viewed by the lecturer and students were given ideas on how to develop their intelligent environment and make it more interesting. We were asked to create a blog so that we can share all the activities that we’ve done from the beginning of the academic week and that’s it- My BLOG and here the blog will keep on being updated each week till the end of the academic year

Week 3

We were asked to display our videos of our creative gagdets in the class so that everyone could have a look at what we have invented. we had a look at intelligent environment and their different type of sensors. we were given homework to complete at home

a link has been attached for you to view my video which is available on youtube

Week 2

All activities carried out in the class were mainly to know how to create movies and record videos.

We were told to record a video using Camstudio about something which could be helpful to someone( For e.g we recorded a video where we were showing how to change the eye color  of an individual using adobe photoshop cs6). Windows Movie Maker is another application software that we used to create our own movies  by mixing songs and images or videos itself. We were asked to invent a gadget and make a short video of us advertising our creative gadget at home

here are the steps on how to use Camstudio to record something:

To start recording, click the red button. A rectangle will appear for you to select the area you want to record.  When you want to stop recording, click the blue stop button. A dialog will appear for you to name and save the file.  To pause a recording to adjust your screen, click the pause button. You can resume recording by clicking on the record button again.

2. Region settings

From the main menu, choose Regions -> Region or Fixed Region or Full Screen

You should set the Input Region before recording. This allows you to define the area and type of video capture. From the main menu, chooseRegion
Step by step on how to use windows movie maker to create your own videos

1. 1. Open your file or video
      Click “Import video”; it will take a few moments to import, depending on the file size and how long that clip is.
   2. Click and drag the different sets of clips you’ve shot down to the Storyboard, which is located at the bottom of the window.
   3. Add video effects. Click “Video Effects” on the left side of the window. Drag what effect you want and put it the star in the corner of the Clip.
   4. Add transitions. Select the “View Video Transitions” from the left panel. Drag them down to the “Storyboard”, but put them in the middle box. You can view the transitions by clicking on them and watching them on the screen to the left.
   5. Add music or cut short the clips by clicking the “Timeline” also at the bottom of the screen.
   6. When you want to cut some time from the Clip, click the half triangle at the side of the clip, and then you can move how long you want the scene.
   7. Mute the camera if you’re going to make a music video; you don’t want anyone to hear that part, just the music. Then, go to “Import Audio or Music” select a song. Then drag it down to the “TimeLine” You can also cut time or make a short sound from clicking the triangle and dragging to make it as long as you want, you can have just one word, chorus or just the whole song.
   8. Add title or credits by clicking on the appropriate link on the left panel. To add credits, there is a big empty bar on the form; you should put either the title of the movie, or credits. The left side of the form should go positions, like Director, or Producer, or the character. Then, the right side, will be the names of the people that play or direct in their position.
   9. Click the view “timeline” and you should see the time line with the song, the title, the clips, and the effects and transitions. Then, you can view the movie that you have created by pressing play on the left panel with the screen.
   10. If you are satisfied, click “Save to my computer” or if you have a CD/DVD you could also save it to that, and it should again, take a few moments to save, then you are done with your movie.

Week 1

Introduction of the module ITX1000( IT in practice),

learning how to use media applications such as audacity, and learning how to use adobe photoshop software to change the color of the eye of an individual to red( using the tools available in adobe photoshop software). For beginners, youtube was used as a guide to accomplish all the tasks given in the class

Here are the step by step on how to change the eye color using adobe photoshop:

1. Zoom In On The Eyes

   Select the zoom tool from the Tools palette,

   

   Select the Zoom Tool.

   With the Zoom Tool selected, click and drag out a selection box around the eyes

2. Select The Lasso Tool

   Next, we need to select the eyes so we’re not affecting any other areas of the image. For that, we’ll use the lasso tool. Select the Lasso Tool from the Tools palette

   

3. Step 3: Draw Selections Around The Eyes

   With the Lasso Tool selected, drag a selection around one of the eyes.  Once you have the first eye selected, hold down your Shift key and draw a selection around the other eye

4. Step 4: Add A Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer

   With the eyes now selected, we’re ready to change their color! For that, we’ll use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Click on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette, then select Hue/Saturation from the list of adjustment layers that appears:

   

5. Step 5: Select The “Colorize” Option

   Select the Colorize option by clicking inside its checkbox:

   

   Select “Colorize’ and the eye will change its color to red

   For e.g this is an example:
   Before
   After
   
   

Review of all the activities that we have carried out

Today, we are creating a blog and learning how to develop and customize the blog. All the activities that we have carried out since the beginning of the semester can be viewed on this blog. For e.g , last week we have learned about intelligent environment and were given some exercises as a challenge to complete at home.