Final Post

Being an avid swimmer my entire life, creating a new invention that could make their lives easier was very important to me. I feel like swimming is a sport that is often overlooked, and I think that Swim Vision goggles could attract more people to the sport. My idea is to invent a pair of goggles that can track a swimmer’s heart rate, number of calories burned, number of laps swum, can alert swimmers when they are approaching a wall, allow swimmers to view their race from a bird’s eye view as they are swimming, and allow them to share their results with other swimmers within their race. There would be two different modes, “Practice Mode” and “Compeition Mode.” This is very complex, so there needs to be a lot of different technologies integrated into this creation in order to make the vision a reality.

            Initially, I only had the idea for the goggles to be able to track progress and attributes such as calories burned and laps swum. However, after learning about the different topics in lecture, such as networks, databases and hardware, I was inspired to expand my idea. Learning about networks and cloud computing gave me the idea to allow swimmers to share their results with other people they are racing, databases gave me the idea for a way to organize the vast amounts of information, and the hardware gave me the idea to implement videos so that swimmers could watch their race while they are swimming and see where there competitors are.

            In order to make this dream a reality, numerous things would need to happen. It would be very difficult for all of these systems to be stored in a tiny pair of goggles, so there would have to be a lot of nanotechnology involved, which can end up getting expensive. Another big obstacle that would have to be overcome is the ability to make all of these technologies waterproof. This could be particularly difficult when it comes to the video technologies (the ALU and video card). This could be very expensive, too. The video camera situation would be a challenge, too; it could be hard to have the video be displayed “in real time” in the goggles, but I think this problem could be solved by implementing similar technologies that are used to make electronic video glasses possible.

            Some of the more simpler things that could be done to make this dream a reality would be to use bytes and bytes to allow the text to be displayed on a screen in the goggles, create a website that the goggles could be connected to so that a swimmer’s results could be displayed on them and they can “network” with their competitors, and create a database that stores all of the information in the goggles. The goggles would run on batteries and they would need to be charged after every use.

            I admit that this is extremely far-fetched, but this class has taught me that endless possibilities technology grants our society. Who knew that a pair of goggles could have so much potential? Before this class, I never knew how many different technologies went into certain products. This class has allowed me to grow so much; it has expanded my imagination and opened my eyes to all of the different technologies that are used in everyday life, which are two of the most important skills I will need to take with me when I venture into the real world.

           

Lecture Post-Database

MY IDEA:

Swim Vision allows swimmers to literally watch their own race from an aerial view so that they can monitor the progress and speed of every single swimmer in their race. There is a tiny monitor in the goggle lenses that display the race being recorded by a camera positioned somewhere above the pool. The video being played in the lenses will be transparent so that the swimmers can still see where he/she is going. If the screen is too distracting, however, swimmers have the option to turn off the video or they will receive alerts that flashing across the screen with messages such as “approaching wall” or “flip turn in 5 yards.” Swim Vision will have two different modes, “Competition Mode” and “Practice Mode.”          

LECTURE:

            Databases would benefit Swim Vision technology because they could be used to store all of the information that the goggles track. A swimmer who swims multiple times a week would complete a large number of laps/yards, burn a lot of calories, and have several different heart rate readings. With all of this information, there needs to be an resource that can store as well as organize all of this vast information and make sense of all of the numbers, and I think that a database is exactly the technology that these goggles need.

            Within the database, there would be several tables that represent different attributes. The attributes would consist of the goggles capabilities such as number of laps swum, number of calories burned, heart rate, and speed, and they would be arranged by day, week or month depending on the user’s preference. There would also be a table that calculates the averages of this date (average number of calories burned, average heart rate, etc).

            Although it can sometimes be difficult to relate the class material to our products, I actually envision databases to be a realistic implementation into Swim Vision goggles. I think that it is a necessary technology that my goggles would otherwise not be able to function without. All of the information needs to be organized somehow and I think that databases are the best way to do so. The database would also allow for quick access, which is another necessary feature for this product. People need to be able to review their results and ensure that they are making progress, and the organized database containing different tables and attributes would allow users to do this with ease.

Lecture Post--Networking

MY IDEA:

Swim Vision allows swimmers to literally watch their own race from an aerial view so that they can monitor the progress and speed of every single swimmer in their race. There is a tiny monitor in the goggle lenses that display the race being recorded by a camera positioned somewhere above the pool. The video being played in the lenses will be transparent so that the swimmers can still see where he/she is going. If the screen is too distracting, however, swimmers have the option to turn off the video or they will receive alerts that flashing across the screen with messages such as “approaching wall” or “flip turn in 5 yards.” Swim Vision will have two different modes, “Competition Mode” and “Practice Mode.”          

LECTURE:

            My entrepreneurial idea would benefit from the use of networking in two main ways. As mentioned in my previous post, I think that although it might not be plausible, I think it would be interesting if Swim Vision goggles were able to connect to “the cloud” and allow the different goggles to communicate with each other and share information such as times (“splits”: the time it takes a swimmer to complete each lap within a race), calories burned or laps swum and compare them to other swimmers. This is where networking would come in to play because it would allow for the sharing of resources and information. There are numerous different types of networking, too, but I think that Swim Vision goggles would most benefit from the use of telecommunication as well as social networking.

            In order for the different goggles to “network” with each other, there would need to be a website that consumers can log on to so that they can register their pair of goggles and compare their progress with that of other swimmers. Each pair of goggles would have their own registration code. Swimmers would register their pair of goggles and then type in the code of other goggles to see their results and compare them to their own. This telecommunications network would allow the different goggles to be interconnected and act as a medium for which swimmers can share their results and progress.

             Social networking could benefit Swim Vision goggles because the current social media landscape allows for so many opportunities for publicity, especially new products. Social Media will increase exposure reach more people, improve branding and reduce marketing expenses. All of these benefits working together will ultimately increase sales. It would begin on the micro level beginning with an individual and eventually snowball into the person building social relationships with people who have similar interests and views about Swim Vision. The social networking aspect of Swim Vision could then be analyzed and asses global and local patterns of use and locate sources of influence.