Meeting #10 Minutes

Date of Meeting: April 22nd, 2014
Time of Meeting: 12:15pm
Place of Meeting: Library
Members in Attendance: Brilzen Varghese, Dave Zhang, Jose Giron, Mike Anastasakis, Navin Rao
End of Meeting: 1:20pm
Secretary: Navin Rao

Agenda: To assign tasks to present to Professor Oakes on 4/24/14 (Thursday)


Discussion: 

• The tasks we were assigned are as followed:
• Requirements Document
• Sand Castle
• Getting user feedback (using scientific approach)
• Test Cases


• I, Navin Rao, was assigned to complete the Requirements Document. 


• Brilzen was assigned to learn about and use Sand Castle.


• Mike was assigned the task of getting user feedback from various people


• Jose was in charge of completing test cases of things that are supposed to work and things that aren't supposed to work

• We agreed to upload all of our documents onto our shared Google Drive, in case one of us is absent during Thursday's class. 

Meeting Ended at 1:20pm.

Meeting #9 Minutes

Date of Meeting: April 15th, 2014
Time of Meeting: 2:50pm
Place of Meeting: Library
Members in Attendance: Brilzen Varghese, Dave Zhang, Jose Giron, Mike Anastasakis, Navin Rao
End of Meeting: 4:22pm
Secretary: Navin Rao

Agenda: To discuss our work with the group


Discussion: 

• Jose and Dave presented a new UI for the Home screen. Design is sleek and eye-grabbing. 


• I added an Audio screen that is able to stream music locally and play it. The screen serves as a music player in the app. 


• Mike was unable to figure out how to get the voice commands to work. We extended the due date to next week. 

• Brilzen added a Google Maps Navigation screen to the app, allowing the user to type in any address and receive the location and directions on the map. 

• We set up Visual Studio Online (TFS), to enable us to check in, edit and check out code from home. We were using a Google Doc and zipping/emailing previously to transport code, which was inefficient and time consuming. 

Meeting Ended at 4:22pm

Meeting #8 Minutes

Date of Meeting: April 10th, 2014
Time of Meeting: 8:10am
Place of Meeting: Woodland 132
Members in Attendance: Brilzen Varghese, Dave Zhang, Mike Anastasakis, Navin Rao
End of Meeting: 8:50am
Secretary: Navin Rao

Agenda: To present our research


Discussion: 

• Dave presented a very basic layout of the WPF prototype that he and Jose worked on. 


• Due to the set back, we decided to all be involved in the UI design to help complete the task.
• We decided to use Blend to help reduce the amount of time coding in XAML and to make the UI more aesthetically pleasing


• Mike came up with a list of voice commands in the library


• Brilizen and Navin (myself) showed the group a list of gestures that the app should be able to detect and what functionality it should have. 

Meeting Ended at 8:50am. 

Meeting #7 Minutes

Date of Meeting: April 3rd, 2014
Time of Meeting: 2:50pm
Place of Meeting: Library
Members in Attendance: Brilzen Varghese, Dave Zhang, Jose Giron, Mike Anastasakis, Navin Rao
End of Meeting: 3:34pm
Secretary: Navin Rao

Agenda: To assign more specific tasks to group members


Discussion: 

• Dave and Jose failed to present their WPF prototype by the assigned time. They didn't have anything to show.


• We discussed assigning three people for design, but decided otherwise. 


• We decided to break down tasks for the members doing research and brainstorming
• Mike will be in charging of implementing voice commands and conducting research in that area
• Brilizen and Navin (myself) will be in charge of creating new gestures for the kinect to detect and implement functionality behind them. We will also be in charge of overall project functionality. 

Meeting Ended at 3:34pm. 

Meeting #6 Minutes

Date of Meeting: March 25th, 2014
Time of Meeting: 2:50pm
Place of Meeting: Library
Members in Attendance: Brilzen Varghese, Dave Zhang, Jose Giron, Mike Anastasakis, Navin Rao
End of Meeting: 3:15pm
Secretary: Navin Rao

Agenda: To keep our group discussion active and share new ideas


Discussion: 

• The team designer, Jose Giron, presented the mock-up of the application to the group


• The mock-up included Google Map Navigation, Music, Climate, Web Browser, Phone, Contacts.


• Jose and Dave are going to have a WPF prototype running by next week including designs from the mock-up


• Some new ideas were presented:
• Since the Kinect has microphones on both sides, the Kinect can determine whether the driver or passenger are talking. Certain voice commands can have functionality depending on whether the driver or passenger said it. 
• For example, if I wanted to raise the volume of a song, I could say "Increase Volume" and have the function only work if the driver says it. It would not work for the passenger. 
• Face Tracking could possible unlock the app and grant the driver certain permissions. 


• Brilzen, Mike and me, Navin, will continue to brainstorm new ideas for the car design and implementation. 

Meeting Ended 3:15pm. 

Meeting #5 Minutes

Date of Meeting: March 18th, 2014
Time of Meeting: 2:55pm
Place of Meeting: Library
Members in Attendance: Brilzen Varghese, Dave Zhang, Jose Giron, Mike Anastasakis, Navin Rao
End of Meeting: 3:20pm
Secretary: Navin Rao

Agenda: To keep our group discussion active and share new ideas


Discussion: 

• To get the kinect to detect the user close while in a driver's seat, we realized we need 3 essential lines of code:
•  _sensor.DepthStream.Range = DepthRange.Near; (only works on Windows Kinect)
•  _sensor.SkeletonStream.EnableTrackingInNearRange = true;
• _sensor.SkeletonStream.TrackingMode = SkeletonTrackingMode.Seated; 


• Since we are not concerned with movement of our legs, we use the last line of code to only track our upper body movements. 


• The team designers will start to work on the mock-up for the application and will present it during the next group meeting. 

Meeting Ended at 3:20pm. 

Meeting #4 Minutes

Date of Meeting: March 4th, 2014
Time of Meeting: 3:00pm
Place of Meeting: Library
Members in Attendance: Brilzen Varghese, Dave Zhang, Jose Giron, Mike Anastasakis, Navin Rao
End of Meeting: 3:36pm
Secretary: Navin Rao

Agenda: To keep our group discussion active and share new ideas


Discussion: 

• We talked about the feasibility of the project idea "Strength Training". From our research, we realized the project is harder than we had thought. 


• Brilizen suggested changing the project to Car Information Station.
• In this project, we would have a similar interface to the Car Information Station project we had to design earlier this semester, except we would implement the Kinect sensor to detect body movements. The goal would be to design an app to control a smart car, like the Telsa touchpad, and sense movements to change/control functionality of the app. 
• For example, if I waved my arm to the right, the current screen or song would change. If I move my hand up, the volume would increase. 


• For homework, we said we would do more research on what kind of movements would be ideal in a car-like environment for the Kinect. (Full body movements cannot be implemented because the user would be sitting in the car)

Meeting Ended at 3:36pm. 

Meeting #3 Minutes

Date of Meeting: February 20th, 2014
Time of Meeting: 3:00pm
Place of Meeting: Library
Members in Attendance: Brilzen Varghese, Dave Zhang, Jose Giron, Mike Anastasakis, Navin Rao
End of Meeting: 3:14pm
Secretary: Navin Rao

Agenda: To discuss our research


Discussion: 

• We discussed different types of isolation type exercises that we looked up for homework. The following exercises were:
• Bicep Curls
• Tricep Extensions
• Lateral Raises


• For the first two exercises we described the function of the exercise and what muscle it aims to strengthen. We talked about how they were both similar in that the technique requires you not to move your elbows to isolate the muscle. The Kinect sensor should be able to focus on the elbows and arms so that the user is able to use proper form.

Meeting Ended at 3:14pm. 

Meeting #2 Minutes

Date of Meeting: February 11th, 2014
Time of Meeting: 3:00pm
Place of Meeting: Library
Members in Attendance: Brilzen Varghese, Dave Zhang, Jose Giron, Mike Anastasakis, Navin Rao
End of Meeting: 3:22pm
Secretary: Navin Rao

Agenda:

• To finalize the project idea.

Discussion:

• Everyone looked at the Introduction videos of how to use the Kinect sensor via the link posted in the Team 6 Team Discussion form on Angel. We discussed the feasibility of the three project ideas, presented during the previous meeting, after learning about how the sensor works.


• Brilzen and I, Navin Rao, both have Kinect sensors. Brilzen has the Kinect for Xbox and I have the Kinect for Windows. We will use them at home to learn more about the sensor.


• Teaching proper soccer form was ruled out for a project idea because of the difficulty that would arise from the sensor being able to detect the position of the foot. The foot is too small and it would be hard for the sensor to precisely determine the angle the foot is positioned in during a full-range of motion kick.


• The project idea "Mixed Martial Arts" was ruled out because of the complexity of the techniques used in this sport. The motions for throws and flips would be hard to detect on the sensor and would not be feasible in the amount of time we are given for the project. It would be feasible to record jabs and punches, but there are only a few moves like that in Mixed Martial Arts and the project idea "Strength Training" would be more ideal for these types of moves.


• We decided to make the project idea "Strength Training". We changed the name from Bodybuilding to Strength Training because BodyBuilding implies using different techniques than that of Strength Training. The goal of the project is to help users improve their overall health and fitness levels by performing proper Strength Training Techniques, such as Bicep Curls (for biceps) and Lateral Raises (for shoulders).
• An example of the project would be for the sensor to alert the user to keep their elbows still while performing Bicep Curls and to focus on contracting the biceps, instead of swinging their elbows forward while contracting the biceps.


• The homework for Brilzen and myself is to learn how to use the Kinect Sensor. For the rest of the team members, the homework is to learn more about Strength Training and to think of ideas for the project "Strength Training".


• Next meeting planned for Thursday, February 20th, 2014. Time: TBD

Meeting Ended at 3:22pm. 

Week 2 Kanban

Team06 Kanban

Team 06 Kanban With Tasks Scheduled and organized

Meeting #1 Minutes

Meeting #1 Minutes:

Date of Meeting: January 30th, 2014
Time of Meeting: 3:00pm
Place of Meeting: Library
Members in Attendance: Brilzen Varghese, Dave Zhang, Jose Giron, Mike Anastasakis, Navin Rao
End of Meeting: 3:35pm
Secretary: Navin Rao

Agenda:

• To brainstorm ideas in person.

Discussion:

• The ideas that we discussed included Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Bodybuilding, and Soccer.


• The project idea for MMA, Bodybuilding and Soccer would be focused around teaching the user correct form in these three recreation activities.


• For MMA, the project would be focused around teaching the user proper MMA techniques such as jabs, roundhouse kicks, and throws. Mike Anastasakis has experience with MMA and would be able to demonstrate correct form. The sensor chosen for this project would be the Kinect for Windows.


• For Bodybuilding, the idea would be similar to that of the MMA idea. The project would be to teach a beginner the basics of bodybuilding, which consists of lifting weights to increase muscular endurance. This would be slightly more feasible than MMA. Unlike MMA, most bodybuilding techniques focus on one joint, instead of multiple joints. Because of this, it would be easier to be detected by a sensor. The sensor chosen for this project would be the Kinect for Windows.


• For Soccer, the project would revolve around teaching the user to have proper technique for passing and kicking a soccer ball. Proper technique includes how to position your foot before it comes into contact with the soccer ball. Jose Giron has experience in proper technique as he is on the PSU Abington soccer team. A con would be that we would have to record ourselves outside demonstrating the technique. We agreed it would be a benefit to talk to the soccer couch to brainstorm and to collaborate. The sensor chosen for this project would be the Kinect for Windows.


• We agreed that we needed to do more research, as we were not sure how the Kinect sensor actually works and how we would make our ideas possible. Our tasks for the weekend are to download the SDK for the Kinect and borrow the Kinect sensor from Professor Oakes to learn more.


• Next meeting planned for Tuesday, February 4th, 2014. Time: TBD

Meeting Ended at 3:35pm. 

Introduction

This is the blog for Team 6 for IST 331.

This blog will be updated weekly to reflect what we discussed during our group meetings and what key actions we must take for our project.

First group meeting will be on Thursday at 3pm.