Every day, most of us take our ability to see the world around us for granted. According to World Health Organization, approximately 246 million people have some form of visual impairment and do not see the world as you and I would. We are working on a smartphone application that simulates various visual impairments such as macular edema, age-related macular degeneration, color blindness, cataracts, and glaucoma. The goal of our application is to establish empathy and understanding while educating the user on the challenges a person with a specific visual impairment may encounter.

Set a data standard for all the public meetings digital records in Washington State. Create a cloud dataset based on this data standard and fill up the dataset with test data scraped from the city and county council websites. Build a website to visualize the database at its backend. Users will be able to perform queries about public meetings via the website.

Gas tax revenue will continue to decline as more fuel-efficient, hybrid, or all-electric vehicles are added to our roadways and with 60% of our state transportation infrastructure budget from gas taxes, we have to make a change if our transportation systems are going to survive long-term. Our approach and end solution to the problem is a mobile application that utilizes modern vehicle technology to track and record road usage with minimal impact on your driving experience. WARUC secures a long-term solution for the future of our infrastructure.

Our team is working on improving the earphone paradigm for better usability and customizability by creating a modular device that will separate the ear attachment from the audio driver along with the rest of the assembly in addition to modifying the software behavior. Allowing users to customize what has historically been a one-piece device will enable them to selectively improve one aspect of their earphones without sacrificing any others. The modular design will also enable the customization of style and color, allowing the headset to double as functional jewelry and providing flexibility to the ever changing modern man.

The experience of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is often stigmatized and poorly understood by those without anxiety. Further, there are very few interactive media forms that focus on the experiences of GAD. Of those that do, the vast majority fall within the horror genre intended to induce anxiety and provide shock-value without representing an overcoming of such experiences. Fragments uses the HTC Vive Virtual Reality Headset as an exploratory medium for representing a fictional experience through anxiety. Using dramatic storytelling, thorough domain research, and principles of immersive play, we aim to present a positive, fantasy adventure about a personal experience of overcoming anxiety. Fragments will simulate the physical and emotional responses of anxiety to help those without anxiety understand these experiences and critique the stigma toward anxiety. Our audience will be traversing a world rife in metaphor and symbolism that can encourage those with or without anxiety to discuss together.

Research shows that online mindfulness training is effective in reducing stress and increasing coping mechanisms among university students. beGreatful builds on these findings by providing an online platform with two key components students can use for mindful practices. The first component is an online gratitude journal designed to encourage mindful thinking through the completion of a journal entry. This helps students build the habit of taking time to reflect upon their day and foster a habit of positive thinking which can lead to increased resilience. The second component is an analytical feature designed to help users visualize patterns in their journal entries and be more aware of their thought patterns. This also reinforces the habit of writing journal entries everyday by providing a snapshot of each day and showing improvements overtime. The online platform will serve as a low-cost, accessible tool for college students to maintain a healthy mindset.

Co-Aud focuses on fostering a creative incubator for those interested in animating, game developing, and voice acting. Co-Aud aims to create a simple interface that will make collaborating between content creators and voice actors as easy as possible. Co-Aud will streamline the process for content creators to post an opportunity and to find the right voice actors/actresses the role. In addition, this will provide voice actors/actresses a way to increase their experience and skills. Not only will Co-Aud act as a central hub, it will also challenge the community with monthly contests. The goal is to connect communities in an organized and efficient manner to reach out and collaborate on communal projects. We would also like to provide a platform through which amateur voice actors can showcase their talents and contact others who are trying to get into the industry, and network with content creators who provide projects and feedback.

The instruction librarians at Gonzaga University’s Foley Center Library provide learning opportunities to students on campus in classroom settings. Since 1988, they have extended those services to distance students. More recently, they have aligned themselves with programs offered online by the university to provide asynchronous and synchronous instruction opportunities for students attending school online. With these desires in mind, this project has focused on investigating web conferencing technology and developing a webinar template for the instruction librarians to use in conjunction with online library orientation activities in order to better serve the distance students at Gonzaga University. This enables distance students to connect with each other as well as the library and librarians. The program allows students to tailor their own learning experience, adding another layer of unique interaction to their education. Using this innovative program method, instruction can occur online in a community-oriented setting.