Posted on Friday, April 14th, 2023
Alexandra Massie, Dhanashree Dama, Noha Abdelrahman and Jay Donde Ericsson with their first-place trophy.
Learners from the Interdisciplinary Studies in Human-Centred Design (ISHCD) program captured first-place at the RE/ACTION Showcase on April 14, the first to take place fully in-person since 2019.
Students Alexandra Massie, Dhanashree Dama, Noha Abdelrahman and Jay Donde Ericsson developed their project, titled “Communicating Timely Measures for Type-2 Diabetes,” over the last six months. According to professors Su Cheng Lee and Lanre Jerry-Ijishakin, the group’s efforts serve as a confirmation of the skills that they have developed throughout the course of their studies, and as a testament to the overall strengths of the ISHCD program.
The RE/ACTION Showcase highlights applied research projects led by student teams in partnership with real industry clients. This event — the first to take place in-person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — saw more than 50 projects displayed by nearly 200 AC students from 11 different programs of study, as well as some examples of the initiatives funded through the AC Innovation Fund. The Showcase is held in support of funding agencies including the Natural Sciences Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Ontario Centre of Innovation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Mitacs.
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Posted on Thursday, April 13th, 2023
According to Statistics Canada, roughly 30 per cent of Canadian seniors are at risk of becoming socially isolated — a challenge that Algonquin College Mobile Application Design and Development students are hoping to address with their senior living application, Hello Dear, which will be unveiled at the April 14 RE/ACTION Showcase.
Hello Dear is a mobile application focused on connecting seniors with their loved ones and caregivers to reduce loneliness and isolation. The application offers key features such as a “Daily Checker” that will assess the user’s mental and physical wellness and offer entertaining and empowering suggestions to the user depending on their mood.
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Posted on Thursday, April 13th, 2023
Learners in the Electrical Engineering Technology (EET) program are developing a device that can block tech from passive listening. Their prototype will be one of the projects on display at the RE/ACTION Showcase on April 14.
Virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa always have their microphones active, as they wouldn’t be able to respond otherwise. This raises obvious concerns for privacy-minded people, as it is not currently known how much, if any, of this passive listening is stored or otherwise recorded.
“If you’re at home and you’re trying to have private conversations, our goal is to maintain that integrity,” said EET learner Caleb Smith. “If you’re in public you could have people listening in, you’re expecting that, but when you’re at home it’s your own safe space. We want to keep it that way by having a device secure that.”
Called “the Cone of Silence,” the device — developed in part by Smith and fellow student Adam Cacciotti — can distort passive listening by emitting ultrasonic frequencies in a contained area. These sounds will be picked up by digital microphones and efforts are being made to ensure the frequency remains inaudible to people and pets. It will effectively create a space in the home where passive listening is not possible, giving people more control over their digital security.
“Our main goal would be just giving people an option,” said Smith. “You don’t want your information to just be out there, right? Some stuff is meant to stay personal, and this gives you the option to keep it that way.”
Smith and Cacciotti’s efforts are a continuation of a prior effort at the College’s MakerSpace, which began developing the project in partnership with a local entrepreneur. The eventual goal of the applied research that has gone into this project is a market-ready product. According to Smith, there are few — if any — competitors to this product, and devices that block passive listening are not widely available for consumer purchase.
Smith and Cacciotti will present their Cone of Silence prototype at the RE/ACTION Showcase on April 14. They are looking forward to sharing the results of their hard work with the College community and showcasing the increasing need for digital privacy. Click here for more information about the showcase and click here to register.
“No one really thinks about making things like this,” said Smith. “The idea of [digital security] may cross your mind on occasion, but this is an actual physical product. I hope that people will be interested in seeing how we did it and how it works.”