Overall Review

For the last review I figured it would be better to multiple groups from the technology and human values project finalists. Overall, I think the projects were very interesting and creative. It takes a lot of time to think about creating a device or app that help a moral problem that is ongoing in society today. So, I want to commend every group on their project and especially the ones that got voted to be a finalist. 

First group I want to review is the Crossing Bridges, Closing Gates group. I really enjoyed watching them present their project.  They created app that design to help children that are not first language speakers and are having problems understanding the language. These children who first language are held to the same standard as the regular students whose first language is English.  No wonder some the students are either average or under average students. How are they supposed to pass if they do not fully understand the standard test they are taking? I love how not only did they create an app but also a tablet that can be implemented throughout the school system, to make it more convenient for the lower income homes that do not have wifi. Also, they have bigger plans of eventually having there tablets shipped overseas to help third world counties who are struggling to keep up with wealthier counties.

The second group I want to review is rent.buy.save. group. This group created that I would definitely use, especially now that the semester is basically over. They created app to where students can buy and sell their textbooks. If anyone has been to college and has had a chance to pay for college text books then they probably that cost can get very expensive. This creates a system where the students put their own price on the textbook they selling. But, not only does it allow you buy and rent textbooks from other students it helps students to know which text books that they will need. It allows student to talk to other students through a direct message system about teachers and if that teacher implements the textbook in his or her class.

The final group would be Couture Essentials app.  This group created an app to where they save the waste that people do not think anything of. With the waste that save, they create furniture, clothes, and other nice things with trash. The app also shows the user how to create things with the waste. The app is nonprofit so, the proceeds goes back to the user. This promotes user to save their waste and use it for a good cause.

Bucca-Near-u Review

America has a crime being committed every twenty seconds. But, America has not always been this way. There was a time were crimes were not as vigorous as they are now. What made it America so dangerous? That is a question that everyone is asking. Or how does the American society slow down the increasing crime rate in 2016? Well, the group that created Bucca-Near-u app has a solution for this problem but, it is on a smaller scale. How about a college campus. There are a lot of crimes and unruly things that happen on a college campus and half of the crimes will not get reported. In the Bucca- Near- u app it is anonymous to other users so, that no one will know who is reporting what. The app is design for students to be able to contact the campus security or the nearest police station to report any crimes or emergencies within the click of a button.  The app also allows it users to contact the guidance counselor, which gives some students the ability to be more open with their problems. Instead of holding in their inter thoughts they can now share with a phone call to the university guidance counselor. I know it is extremely hard to be open with topics like rape (which happens very frequent on a college campus) but, knowing that a counselor is available is a good reliever. I think that the feature of being able to contact the campus security is very convenient because campus security would most likely be able to reach a student first rather than the police because they are already located on the college campus. This app also helps with the reporting of crimes on a campus that do not get reported. For example, say you are best friends with your roommate. One night your best friend bring a random female you guys room but when he brings her in, she is not walking. He quickly tells you that she is not walking because he drugged her and that he is planning on having intercourse with her later on whether she is aware or not. What do you do? Do you turn your best friend in to the police? In most situation on most college’s campus that situation is not going to get reported. But, with the Bucca- Near- u app it promotes situations like this to get reported because it does not requires a phone call to the police and it anonymous.

watch it app review

Being overweight has been a major ongoing problem in America. We do not have a good answer to the find the solution for being overweight. America has created various programs to try to push back on all the food we consume, and also to try to live a healthier lifestyle. But, that’s extremely hard to do while living in America because we have so much food. I think I remember hearing that America has enough to feed one person four times in one meal. That ridiculous! The fact we throw away more food than the food that is being consumed is interesting also. I personally think if you want to change the way America is heading then you have to start with our future which is the children or youth society. I say that because the older you get the harder it is for you to break a habit. So, if you have been eating unhealthy and not working out for years, trying to break that habit could possibly be impossible. But, with the watch it app you can break the cycle of obesity. The Watch it app is an app where it is designed for the parents to survey their children daily activity. If the children is not doing their daily exercises then the child will not have any electronics and will not get them back until they get the daily activity where it needs to be. Not only does it blocks you from electronics like the television and game systems but, it also blocks you from being able to get on social media. How is work? It designed for a younger audience such as children in grade school. The children are suppose wear a watch where on the back it has a motion system. The motion system detects the child heart rate and send updates notifications to the parents’ cell phone.  I think this is a great idea to put a halt the ongoing obesity problem in America. It really hits the nail on the head by shutting electronics and apps.  Children nowadays are too busy having all of these fancy gadgets like iPhone and PlayStation to where they do not feel the need to go outside and play. And because they just with own personal gadgets, they really lose the skill of being to play with other children. Not only does this watch it app promotes the stopping in children obesity but, it also promotes children to interact with other children to gain people skills early.

Couture Essentials (feat. Stop R' Shop) : Innovative, Admirable, Fashionable

Couture Essentials may very well be the best idea I have heard all year. As a tree-hugger and lover of non-human organisms, who do not have a voice of their own, making the earth a little less cluttered and polluted is important to me.  I am also someone who loves fashion, so I found this doubly interesting.

I remember having to do a project in the seventh grade about recycling, pollution, landfills and the percentages of recyclable materials that ended up in landfills, or worse, in oceans and other bodies of water for aquatic animals to get stuck in or die from trying to consume the trash. The following year I had another project about how such pollution was causing irreversible damage to our aquifers, where clean, pure water is extracted from beneath the earth. Though I always felt that this information was important to know, I always felt so helpless and never seemed to find any realistic explanations for combating land and water pollution. Years later, I think that Couture Essentials may be the answer that I had been longing for all this time.

The part of this program that I liked the most was that it allows people to bring in their own “junk” to have it revitalized and made into something new. I have seen websites similar to this, but they were incredibly expensive, due to the use of new, raw materials and they did not provide the donors with ways to alter or actually make their own creations, as Couture Essentials does. I can definitely see myself taking in some plastic and turning it into one of those clear rainbow jackets that I’m too broke to pay the shipping prices for, or even bringing in old books that I no longer want and creating a book shelf or some other eccentric décor for my room, like they have in Burke’s Books.

Not only do the products made from Couture Essentials allow users to turn trash into fashion, but they also provide an alternative to products made from child and slave labour, which was discussed in Stop R’ Shop. One of the solutions for the latter project was to wear and buy clothes that are already in circulation from thrift shops, rather than supporting such a heinous culture by buying new products from the stores themselves.

As a side note I found the actual presentation to be very convincing and creative, what with the plastic bag skirt. Great project, great product.  

My Thoughts on L.E.A.F

Earlier this year I had my grandfather die from a stroke, and during his last two or three weeks of life, the quality of his existence was solely dependent on those caring for him, meaning his family and the professional caretakers. Everyone’s issues with the professional caretakers were that they were quite impersonal, treating Grandpa as an object rather than human. They would come in his room once, and not make another appearance for another 18 hours. They talked on the phone and joked around. The latter is fine at the appropriate times; however play should have come after work, after they had already met Grandpa’s needs. There was not much anyone in the family could do about this, aside from complain to the doctors or try to supplement Grandpa’s lack of quality care with sentimental statements, telling him that we were there if he needed anything and sharing memories. Honestly though, this only went so far due to everyone’s conflicting schedules and conflicting views about how he should have been cared for. For instance, one of my aunts spoke with the doctor and banned anyone else in the family, besides herself or my grandma, from visiting Grandpa after a certain time. This meant that unless my aunt decided to stay the night, we were right back at square one, meaning that grandpa had no one to keep him company for long hours. Even during the day, when he had several people keep him company, certain family members caused strife arguing amongst themselves, debating what steps to take next regarding my grandpa’s health or blaming each other for his worsening condition. One person would walk into the room and say something like “Hey play this classical cd; it’ll stimulate his mind and calm him,” while ten minutes later, another relative would walk in and say “What are y’all doing? What’s wrong with y’all? Turn all that stuff off. He needs to rest.”

In spite of all these examples, I am not angry at anyone, because I understand that seeing a loved one in such a heavily-sedated state and not being able to truly help is a painful thing to deal with. Since everyone had to care for Grandpa’s needs on top of the everyday stressors of life, I imagine that they were all thinking on their feet, which led to the lack of coordination. All of that said, I love the inspiration behind “Love Effects a Future [sic].” I think this app is especially useful for people who do not have, do not trust, or cannot afford licensed, trained caretakers and thus rely on their own skills to care for loved ones.  LEAF would hopefully make family members’ responsibilities a bit less intimidating and a bit more manageable. My favorite feature on the app was the virtual medicine planner because with the physical ones, it can be hard to actually keep up and stay on track with certain medicines, or they can get lost or even placed into the wrong date and time due to, say, exhaustion from the person stocking the medicine.  The idea behind the app was quite sad, but very moving, so good job Wenting and Amy, if you guys ever read this.  Also the app itself was very sophisticated and I can tell a lot of thought and planning went into the feature of the app. My only criticism is that this should be less of a social media platform, because those already exist; besides, as we mentioned in class linking this to any social media would breach some sort of medical confidentiality codes, as these sites would ask for permission to view certain aspects of the app, which might include medicine.

Comments For The App Tooters

Tooters is an app that you can download easily in your phone and you find people around you ( tutors) that can help you with the classes that you have problem with. It can literally make the different. When you think that you do not have nobody to help you, or when you actually find someone he or she asks a lot of money which as student you are not able to give. You are looking for something cheap but at the same time in a good quality and that's what the app tutor becomes to do. As an international student, I'm struggling a lot because I do not know the English language perfectly. Most of the times I need help with my studies or with my papers and a lot of people they are not available to help me. Moreover, sometimes you need to find a person who asks a lot  money to help you with your classes that you struggle with and of course  that's not even an option for me. Furthermore, most of the times, international students are not having a car which is another issue. Also student- athletes looses many classes because of games and practices and they need extra help to keep up with class. A really good solution in all these problems is the app tutors. If I have this app I wouldn't worry if I would not find somebody to help me, just with one click on my phone I would have a person that can help me. This app is actually way cheaper than the actually tutors. Also I don't even have to drive to them, they are coming to me which is awesome from the moment that I do not even have a car. But the best part of it is whenever you are getting and A or B in your tests, they give you a free donut! How thoughtful? I strongly believe as an international student-athlete that if I had this app, it would really help me to understand and find solutions in the problems that  I am facing in my classes. Last, I would say that 'TOOTERS' app giving  a solution to the students that not being able to receive a good education and keep being interested and motivated in what they are doing. We need those people through this app to motivate and make students have confidence on what they learn and doing.

Thoughts About The App TTYL

The app TTYL in my personal opinion I think it could be really interesting for students. It reminds me and sounds similar with the app tinder but at the same time is so different. You can meet people near you that you have the same interest. A lot of people in the school they do not know each other and that is kind of sad and sometimes awkward when they say hi to you for example when you are in the grocery store. With this app you can find people near you that you may be in the same class or when you are watching him or her in the cafeteria and you always wanted to talk to that person and you never did. Everybody pretty much nowadays feel more comfortable to talk behind the screens, if that is the phone or the computer. The thing that I like in this app is that is safe and you can only give the school email address to sign in so you know that you are talking with people that they are students. I believe that this app it can be really useful, first because you can meet people from your school and your class and you can study with him or her. Moreover, with this app you are able to organize an event with these people and for example you can study all together or you can go out for movie or food. Second, you meet people with the same interests. For example, you love to watch  basketball and you like to play with dogs, so right away with this app you can much with people that they love to do the same things and you can plan on doing these stuff. How awesome? Third, from my personal experience I believe that this app it could be really useful for international students like me. Most of us, we are coming here in USA without to know anybody, so if I had this app everything would be way easier. I could find people from my school, from my class, or even from the same country and same language. Another thing that I believe is pretty smart that you can rate ( give stars) the person that you meet with, so you give stars depending how truthful that person is about himself or herself.  But also you can get stars (rates) from other people. I would definitely download this app if I would be able to because I love to meet new people and especially when we are staying in the same place or pretty close to each other.

Audite Thoughts:

Audite is designed to decrease the language barrier while traveling overseas for any extent of time. Offered as an earpiece, Audite would allow for one to effectively communicate in a foreign language by acting as a median between the two people communicating. This device is revolutionary, in my opinion, I'm a technophile, so these kinds of advancements in technology excite me more than it would the average person. With emerging technology, a real-time translator would make learning and/or teaching a language a thing of the past. This device would make things such as traveling and immigration, so much easier, as it  eliminates the language barriers and makes communication a lot easier and faster for people.

SafeSip Thoughts:

SafeSip is a microfluidic DNA & chemical testing system that calculates the compositional breakdown of any liquid. It detects chemical substances and bacteria, as well as harmful metals such as lead, arsenic, etc.  Overall, I really like the idea behind this device. I feel as though it would be very beneficial to society because exposure to these kinds contaminants [sometimes found in public and private drinking water] are causing numbers of health problems, ranging from nausea and stomach pain to developmental problems and cancer. I, also, favor the idea that it acts as a date rape prevention tool as well because these days you can’t put anything pass anyone. The group illustrated this perfectly, in my opinion.

Audite

The Audite earpiece product,  I believe, is such a great invention.

I believed this product was amazing for so many reasons. For one, I would love to travel when I'm older. I would love to visit so many countries overseas, especially in Europe, including Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and France. I have been taking French for years, and am currently in the second level French offered here at Christian Brothers, but there is still some things that I don't understand, especially when they are speaking at their normal pace. I believe this product would be very beneficial in understanding what people are saying in other languages. It works both ways because I know, that if I need help in another country, and I ask for it, and the person does not speak English, I would still be able to communicate with them, and they wouldn't have to learn English just to talk to me. They could just speak their native language. 

It not only picks up the conversation but it translates it in real time. It also allows your message that you would like to be translated to be done so through a speaker. This allows for conversation to occur, even with the language barriers.

 Another reason why I feel this tool would be beneficial is because my native language is Spanish. That was what I first learned and when I came into the United States it was having to not necessarily forget what I had learn but start all over again. Sure, I knew the basics such as pen= boligrafo, or pencil= lapiz, but I did not know anything else. I remember the humiliation I felt when I had to tell my teacher that I needed to go get some water because I had "hipo" or the hiccups in spanish. "You have a hippo?" & the entire class erupted in laughter. This would prevent situations like these, and help people. 

I really hate the fact that some people bash on my parents for living in the country for so long but not really grasping the language very well. "You live in America, learn English or get out." It's not as simple as it was for me to learn English because our brains don't allow it after a certain age, so as many children can pick up so many languages and become multilingual, it becomes harder the older you are. This product would definitely help my parents.

I don't believe this product would hinder people from learning a foreign language, because if you really want to learn it and grasp it you would do so. You can rely on a machine, but only to a certain point.

I do believe that further additions such as the picture translator would definitely improve this product. Overall, loved your work.

bucca-NEAR-u

I thought this project, out of all the ones presented, was the most practical, realistic, and most useful one in this current moment. Although other products and apps from different groups created cool, fancy technology that were interesting and well thought out, bucca-NEAR-u is the one app that has the best chance to become something real that a large majority of people on the CBU campus, and potentially other campuses, use. This app allows students to have a much faster and reliable connection with campus security. I also really enjoyed the idea of anonymous reporting because it allows students who want to report something but are scared to because of peer pressure or whatever reason a chance to do so without being called out.

One problem I have with this  app, however, is that it could potentially require a larger campus safety force readily available or more and better training for the current campus security, which could increase costs for students. Campus security, however, could definitely use it since I do not really see them do much except break up parties at 5AM.

Let's Get Memphis Healthy Habits Up and Running

            The Memphis Healthy Habits project addressed issues related to the obesity epidemic in Memphis specifically. By providing resources that get people connected to community activities, healthy diet plans, and exercise regimens, the website could minimize the 34% adult obesity rate in Memphis. I think the main attraction to the Memphis Healthy Habits website is the sense of community it gives off; the blog entries are written by dedicated Memphians who want others to live healthy lifestyles. I loved the groups’ passionate response to food insecurity but I felt those who would most benefit from the resources structured through the app would not connect to them. I would suggest providing recipes that include affordable, accessible ingredients in food deserts and tailoring blog entries to resonate with those who are most food insecure. For example, having 5-minute workout plans, family fun exercises that you can squeeze in between dinner and bedtime, or how to get your grocery shopping done quickly after a long shift, would be helpful to more Memphians.

            I think this website and this idea could expand so much, becoming a citywide resource. Maybe if this was pitched to the Memphis Food Advisory Council, the group could integrate more advanced resources and actually make this happen. I couldn’t tell you how often I wanted to look up where to find some cheap veggies after a long day of school and work but instead I go to Taco Bell for a cheap, quick burrito. I want this to be up and running so we can all benefit from it!

SafeSip Review

I really enjoyed the product SafeSip and its group's presentation. I thought it was a great idea and they brought up many good points. I liked how it was portable, rechargeable and you could do quick tests to any beverage in a matter of minutes. It's a very useful device that can help many people, such as campers, hikers, and anyone outdoors, or people at social events and parties. Like other's pointed out, I think people just having them with them will make potential predators less likely to try something. In addition to preventing date rapes or sexual assault, it can also save lives for those in the wilderness needing to find a clean water source. While there already is a proven and reliable method for determining if water is clean to drink outdoors, it can take a very long time to preform and requires many steps and some equipment. Using the SafeSip is, without a doubt, much faster and easier to do.

There are few complaints I had for this product, however. First, unless there is a self cleaning mechanism already installed, it can only be used once before having to be washed. At parties or social events, this does not really seem like a major deal. However, if one uses this to test water in the wilderness, some bacteria can and will remain on the device and can be very hard to remove.

I think this device can be very useful in many situations. It can prevent sexual assault and help keep people healthy outdoors.

Language Barriers

Yes yes yes...technology that will help us understand languages in real time...finally whenever i go to get a pedicure and massage i can know if the technicians are speaking on the conditions of my feet and body lol. No in all seriousness i feel as is Audite is a good idea. It helps to place those awkward gaps in between conversation. Too many times i have struggled to understand something that could gave been very simple. Sometimes it is embarrassing. Especially if you work in a store and a person from another country has a question. Im not going to lie though...i think the design is a bit ugly. Lol the end piece looks super long so i would not want to rock it openly in public. Also i would not want to become too dependant on it.

I like the fact that this device can be used inside if the school system. I remember being in school and people who were in esl could only have a few regular classes. The rest of the time they spent in classrooms together learning English mostly. If they had this piece they would be able to function normally in the school system. 

But would this prohibit their learning? No. I believe eventually as is speaks the languages to the students they would catch on and learning the basics themselves. In a way it is kind of sad the way we try to make them fully adapt to our language.

Sometimes people do not want to learn a language they just want to understand the language. They are frustrated with the time gap of learning and this is a major aid. I like the app the have to go with the device. A feature on the app that is of the most importance is the little switch between button that allows for a conversation style translation. I also like the website layout. It was well put together and neat. One future addition that i agree on are the water proof capabilities. I would hate to be in the rain have a full blast conversation just for the device to begin malfunctioning midway. Talk about embarrassing. 

I do not like the price at all. I Do not like bluetooth that much. For 200 bucks i will surely be sticking to my google translator and going down the bumpy road. 

Congrats to the team that came up with this brilliant idea though. 

Audite Review

I thought that Audite was a very good invention and it was a very brilliant idea for someone to come up with for others’ use. I feel that not only Spanish speakers could benefit from this product, but also other people who speak different languages such as Chinese or Russian. Even people whose native language is English could also still reap the same benefits from this amazing product as people who are foreign language speakers. At times, I have thought about traveling to a different country but was afraid of how confused I might be because I wouldn’t understand anything. I really like how convenient Audite is and how fast it would work without having to wait for a long period of time for translations. I also thought the future ideas that they came up with as far as making it possible to even translate signs and pictures was clever. It is also very convenient for the earpiece to be small because no one wants to walk around with a huge earpiece in their ear. I wouldn’t be surprised if this product sold out because a lot of people can relate to the frustrations of trying to learn another language. There are several situations where native speakers would talk about you in their language so you wouldn’t understand what they’re saying. I think it would be really cool for this to be an invention because then, I would be able to know exactly what that person said. The only thing that I would worry about is receiving wrong translations of words because I’ve learned from previous experiences that it happens too often. Most websites that translate words into different languages often can misuse words, even the languages that are taught in school or textbooks are often incorrect. At first, I was worried about how fast I could get the translations of the words because if someone is trying to have a conversation, I don’t want to be stuck in an awkward situation where my responses are late and they’re looking at me with confusion. Since it was cleared up that you wouldn’t have to wait for a long time, that made me feel better about this invention. For the most part, I would love to see how this idea helps people. Even though it wouldn’t actually help people learn how to speak a different language, it would help others have an understanding of different languages.

Crossing Bridges Closing Gaps - The best project and presentation even if not the best inventions

I feel like, while the invention itself may have not been the very best of all of them, the project showcasing Crossing Borders Closing Gaps was the best one.  The best invention may have been the find my place kiosk, or perhaps it's a tie, at least in my opinion.  However, the whole presentation and the multiple part plan to the Crossing Borders Closing Gaps project was fantastic.  This group went above and beyond with their invention, even making multiple different inventions.  They planned to have a website, an app, AND an item - the tablet specifically for housing the app so that people in places such as third world countries could access the knowledge.

Now, I say that the inventions may have only tied the kiosk just because, while the execution of the presentation was superb, I can't be certain how much all that they made would actually impact the world.  I feel more certain that the kiosk would have a great impact while I feel like there's a chance that the Crossing Borders Closing Gaps inventions, while seeming great, had the possibility of fizzling out and not really doing much even though it was such a good concept.

The presentation from this group wasn't even so good solely because of all the inventions - the way they went about showing everything was using something different from powerpoint which displayed everything in a different way and I really liked it.  The way it all looked and felt was really good; I felt like it could have been an actual company presenting its idea to me.  Combining the goodness of the presentation's look and feel with it's organization, putting everything in steps, makes this group's presentation skyrocket to first place among all the different presentations.  Don't get me wrong; I don't think that any groups had a bad presentation.  However, I felt like all of them were mostly average(except for when I made everyone laugh during our presentation, I was the coolest).  Everyone used powerpoint, and while there were different designs, the general organization of everyone's presentation was mostly the same:  some slides going over the problem, then some slides discussing the solution they came up with, make sure everyone talks some and wing it for the questions.

Though this group's actual inventions had the possibility of not making much impact, that doesn't mean I believe they wouldn't have.  I do think they would have, but because of the massive scale this would be or need to be implemented on there's just no way to be certain.

Find my place review

The find my place project was my favorite one.  Now, I don't mean to say that they had an amazing presentation, in fact when actually going over their creation the way they did so was average.  What I loved about their project was the invention in itself.  Of all the different projects I felt like that one was the best solution, the one that would affect society the most.  The other projects weren't bad, but some, like the Calnter, I thought wouldn't affect the problem they chose enough, while others, like the Babyl/off, wasn't addressing as big of an issue as homelessness.

The Find my place kiosk offered so much and I couldn't really find near as much about it that you could poke a hole in as the other projects.  This is the one I could most imagine actually becoming a thing.  It just seems like such a genuinely good and effective way to combat homelessness, at least in the US and other first world countries.

If any of the projects really may have beat this one, it was the last one, the CBCG one, because of how effectively they solved their problem as well(though I'll go over theirs in another post).

Whenever a problem with the kiosk was brought up, it was fairly easy to think of a solution to it.  For example, they had to figure out how it would be supplied, either through how the money would be supplied to make it or how the care packages would be supplied to it.  We quickly decided the best way would be through tax money paying for the kiosk itself or churches would fund them, and things like churches that value charity programs could also perhaps keep them supplied especially since there are many around the United States, especially in high population cites where the majority of homeless people can be found.

Not only did each problem with it get solved quickly, but the class was also quick to think of ideas for improving it.  The biggest way I can think of was the idea of making it a place that people could directly donate to so that they could avoid their charity money being spent on the wrong things.  This did bring up the problem of avoiding people breaking into it, however methods to avoid that were brought up as well, such as perhaps repurposing old bank ATM machines.

L.E.A.F. Review

L.E.A.F., or Love Effects A Future, was a great idea for an app. So many caretakers don’t have support out there for them. This is a way for the caretakers as well as the patients to be taken care of. Many times we only really think about how dementia effect the patient and we don’t stop to think about how this cruel disease effects the families and caregivers of those dealing with this.

My grandmother has lived with us my entire life, she was always healthy and spry until recently when we started to notice that she was deteriorating and very quickly. The only reason that we could think of was that she was getting older and it as just a part of aging. Unfortunately for her with aging also came dementia. She went from being the most intelligent woman I knew to being a shell of her former self. She doesn’t even know who we are anymore, being away for college when I come home she thinks that I’m some stranger trying to take her away or steal her things. It is a frightening concept.

My mom works full time and still manages to take care of my grandmother, probably because she’s secretly Wonder Woman. But I can see it starting to weight down on her. She could use and app like this to be able to remind her of when my grandmother needs to take certain medications and when she needs to go to the numerous doctor visits. This app would also give her support, to know that she is not the only person that has to raise her mom in the state she is in.

This app is an app of hope. This shows that there is hope out there that even though every day gets a little harder there are still people routing for you and your loved one. Some of the sections with in this app I believe could be useful for those in the early stages of dementia and help them with reminders and keeping up with their lives as close to before as possible. Unfortunately, though when they are too far gone this would only be able to be used by the caregiver.

The idea of linking your social media to an app that has confidential information is a little unsettling to me though. For those who can no longer reason they may share that information with people that shouldn’t have it because they no longer know any different. But otherwise I think that this app is a very good idea and should be available to everyone who is a caregiver.

The iDro Project's Sustainable Design

            The iDro aims to solve the problems associated with contaminated water consumption among populations that have minimal access to clean water. This well-researched and designed device offers a carbon filter and heating element that decontaminate enough water to meet daily drinking requirements. By using a hand crank, it generates renewable energy to sustainably heat water with disease-carrying bacteria and can be easily & cheaply repaired. While I don’t understand the lifestyle of people in water insecure areas, I do think the iDro would be a helpful measuring device for how much one individual should drink, it could be a resource-free heat source, and it would be appealing to they charities the inventors are targeting. There was obviously a lot of research behind the engineering of the iDro, from the graphic design, to the energy output calculations, to the materials and costs. I could see this project being useful both at this scale and in the form of a larger, communal device.

            Overall, I think the iDro project satisfies genuine problems that millions of people face on a daily basis. The combination of cost-effective, sustainable engineering with direct plans for applications makes this device really appealing to me, and I’m sure it would be appealing to those who need clean drinking water.