i-phone app concept

In second year of college, we had to come up with a new business idea. We formed a group of four and we started brainstorming and in the end we came up with an i-phone app concept. The concept we wanted to develop was an I-phone app. It would provide the users maps and would also give the users a full 360 degree panoramic view of the location they are at. Our target market was hikers. Hikers face difficult weather conditions such as white outs/blackouts and it makes it almost impossible to see what is in front of them. Mountains can be very dangerous and one wrong step could be life threatening. But with the introduction of our I-phone app, the hiker will know exactly what to expect every step of the way. They will get a full 360 degree panoramic image of where they are. A compass is also built in so the user knows which direction they are heading towards. If the user wants a tough route the app would calculate a tough hiking route and if the user wants an easy route the app would guide them through an easy route (if any available). If the user is close to a danger zone (edge of a cliff for example) the app would show a warning message, which would inform the user of the danger zone ahead. There would have also be an option for the user to read about the historical background about the locations they were at (if any historical background exists in that area). It would have made a good learning experience for the user. This app could be used by anyone not just hikers. So if you’re a new student, you can use it to find your way around campus. This app can work, we know this as we have tried to create a prototypes of this concept. We created hotspots on google maps using google api, and also we generated our own 360 degree panoramic images of a few locations on UL campus.

Working with photoshop and flash

During my coop I was offered the opportunity by DR.Luigina Ciolfi (work colleague) to be involved in preparing a piece which was going to represent the Interaction Design Centre in an art exhibition in Cork “Boundary Work I”

I had to create a poster. I designed the poster using text which DR.Luigina Ciolfi had sent me and I also added images which I received from Anders Sigfridsson(work colleague), I created the layout and design of the poster with James(work colleague).



After creating the poster, I had to put two flash files together. This was a tough task for me as I had no previous experience with flash. However, I looked at this as an opportunity to gain new knowledge and saw this as a new learning experience. I began researching about flash and I started watching video tutorials online about flash.

I read more about flash online and tried doing a few exercises from the tutorials to practice some flash. After quite a few days I had learned the basics of flash which was a great help. I started putting the two flash files together, however I had great difficulties with it as I found the action script coding tough to understand and write. I slowly put the flash files together little by little, piece by piece and it all started coming together. I found working with flash the most difficult task during the work placement however, it was a great learning experience. It gave me an opportunity to learn how flash works, it was a program which I had never used before. So by the end of this task I had learnt how to use the basics of a new program.

Organizing TWEAK

During the time I was on coop, I got many opportunities to work on various different projects. Tweak was a very interesting project. When I first began my placement I was given the chance to work on a project called “Tweak”. Throughout the course of this project I was given many different responsibilities. My first task/responsibility for the project was to design an ident for Tweak in Adobe After Effects. After completing this I was given the responsibility to collect arduinos and cables from the CSIS building. These were important for the designers at the Tweak workshop.

Then I had to go into the city centre to collect the Tweak posters and then I had to stick them around the city on the windows of various shops, pubs, art college etc. I had to ask for permission in order to stick the posters up in any of the places. This was to promote the Tweak festival, to raise awareness to people in the city so they knew about it. I also handed out programs/leaflets and placed them in shops, pubs. These programs outlined what was to be expected at the Tweak festival. I was responsible for getting together and organizing all the materials which the designers needed to help them create their designs. Materials such as crocodile clips, cables, wires, arduinos. They all had to be organized so that the designers could locate them easily and use them as they needed them.

The Tweak exhibition needed to be set up in the hall in the art college in Limerick. I helped set up and position the computers according to Nora (who organizes the Tweak festival). Setting up the exhibition took hours, however it was very important to set everything up correctly and to make sure everything was working properly. On the opening night of the exhibition, I was responsible for the refreshments. I made sure that everyone at the exhibition was served refreshments. After a successful opening night of the exhibition, the Tweak exhibition stayed open for another four days.

During these four days it was my responsibility to make sure that the designs were turned on at 9.30am, after turning on all the different designs, I had to look after the exhibition and if any visitors had questions about any of the designs I had to answer them and explain it to them, and at 1.30pm my class mate took over until 5pm, he then had to turn all the designs off and shut them down. The Tweak festival was a success and after it ended it was my responsibility to help pack up all the designs, computers and packing up all the other equipment such as cables etc.