Projects

The projects for SS12 are designed in collaboration with Project:Possibility, the disabled, assistive technology, and open source communities.

Project 1: Accessible Social Networking

Summary: Many web sites, including social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, are mostly inaccessible for blind people using screen readers due to their use of AJAX. Use AxsJax or another technology to make them accessible.

Project 2: Mobile Color Identifier

Summary: Developing for your favorite mobile platform (Android, iPhone etc), create an application that will allow a colorblind person to take photos (or live video) of objects and identify their colors overlaid on the image or live video.

Project 3: Mobile AAC device

Summary: Developing for your favorite mobile platform (Android, iPhone etc), create an “Augmentive and Alternative Communication” program that allows users with speaking disabilities to construct sentences via a decision tree by choosing pictures in sequence. (Google: 'AAC device' for more information)

Project 4: Mobile Currency Reader

Summary: Developing for your favorite mobile platform, create a program for the blind that will take a photograph of dollar bills and speak aloud its value. (Difficult project, experience in computer vision recommended.)

Project 5: Sign Language Reader

Summary: Develop a program that can translate sign language, from a video or web camera, into text in real-time. (Difficult project, experience in computer vision recommended.)

Project 6: Speech to text for programmers

Summary: Modify an existing speech-to-text library so that it works well for programming by understanding the grammar of the programming language, knowing what variables are in scope, etc.

Project 7: Make Google Wave accessible

Summary: Google Wave makes heavy use of AJAX and is thus not very accessible for blind people using screen readers. Use AxsJax or another technology to make it accessible.

Project 8: Binary input for GNOME Caribou

Summary: Caribou is currently a replacement for the GNOME on-screen keyboard. With the guidance of a GNOME programmer helping remotely, you'll allow users to enter text using binary input, such as a simple USB switch or the tab and space keys. (Must have Linux installed.)

Project 9: Highlight for GNOME Orca

Summary: Orca is an open-source, scriptable screen reader for GNOME. With the guidance of a GNOME programmer helping remotely, you'll add highlighting of the current object, caret position, word/line/sentence being spoken, etc. to assist people with dyslexia. (Must have Linux installed.) More information at http://live.gnome.org/Orca

Past SS12 Projects

Project 1: Word Prediction Software

Summary: This software will allow users with limited mobility to be able to more accurately and quickly input text into a computer. This software is intelligent enough to offer suggestions for the user based on context and the characters inputted so far.

Project 2: Community Captioner

Summary: Community Captioner is an open source, community-driven online video closed captioning tool. This tool will help people with hearing impairments experience the wealth of online "Web 2.0" media content available today with no captions.

Project 3: NIA Video Game

Summary: SimonPulse, Musical "Simon" borrows the concept from he classic game Simon, in which 5 musical notes are mapped to neural impulses via the OCZ NIA. The player will play the game by hearing a progressive pattern of notes and thinking/generating the corresponding biosignal. As the player becomes more accustomed to the interface, a full musical scale can be mimicked and a song can be "thought out". Rock out to Hotel California by thought!

Project 4: Accessible Multi-IM Client

Summary: The software aims to make some existing multi IM Clients accessible to physically challenged people through the use of Google AxsJax framework.

Project 5: AxsJax

Summary: This project aims to provide accessible methods to the blind to retrieve walking directions using google maps.

Project 6: Barcode Reader

Summary: A software application which will compare the picture of a barcode taken using a camera phone with those in its database and display the information relevent to the barcode.The information can range from cost to nutritional facts and may be communicated in various forms. e.g. Text display, Speech etc.

Some of the resources which have been used in the previous code-a-thon are provided as primer.

Guidelines

Development

Software Applications