Here at Project54, we work extensively with New Hampshire State Police. Subsequently, we have one of their 2006 Dodge Chargers for demonstrating and testing the Project54 system. One of my colleagues here at the University of New Hampshire, Daniel VanderClock, recently took the opportunity to take some photos of the interior and exterior of the car (some photos are shown below). The entire outstanding set can be seen on our Flickr account here.

Thanks Dan for your all of your wonderful work and we look forward to your future photo shoots!

Mark Taipan

For the majority summer, the bulk of my work on the multi-touch table has been working with Ankit and Oskar on the Google Earth application, in which we have overlayed geotagged photos with additional orientation data as 3-D models. We have added the ability to control the Google Earth application with the multi-touch table using different gesture we’ve designed. We will be using this application in an experiment that will compare two methods of storytelling, one using the Google Earth application and the other using a traditional picture slideshow with an additional map. The purpose of this is to explore the advantages of the overlayed photos as well as the application on the multi-touch table.

We have recently submitted the project as a poster and short paper submission to the Ubicomp 2009 conference and it has been accepted. The conference will be held in Orlando,Fla at the end of September. Below is a video that Ankit and I created to go along with the short paper/poster submission.

Mike Litchfield

For the week of July 13th, elementary school students in the Durham area participated in the KEEPERS camp in Kingsbury Hall. The Kids Eager for Engineering Program with Elementary Research-based Science is a week long science camp that allows the children to develop an understanding of various engineering fields.

The KEEPERS staff that includes University scientists, graduate and undergraduate students, and experienced teachers helps the campers explore fun science concepts through engaging, hands-on challenges. Each day of the week is reserved for a different area in engineering, and while the campers aren’t busy touring Project 54 or taking field trips to area children’s museums, the children participate in experiments that spark interest in science.

When the children were learning about Electrical Engineering, Mark, Eric and I helped them build simple circuits with batteries and light bulbs. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and the camp effectively garnered interest in electrical engineering among elementary students. Many of the campers plan on returning next year, and I hope their interest in science continues throughout their education.

Erika Swanson

We enjoyed the company of the Keeper’s Camp when they visited Project 54. The kids were very excited as we showed them a taste of what we do. Mark, Erika , Oskar and myself took the twenty-four kids around Morse Hall and showed them the show car and simulator.

They sat in the drivers seat of the cop car to give them a feel of what Project 54 is, and turned on the lights to see how its used. We also showed them the guts of how it all works, and how the devices communicate with one another.

They were thrilled to see the simulator in action. Oskar explained to them how we use it for research and why it is a vital testing tool, and not a video game even though it is entertaining to drive!

We were delighted to be a part of the camp’s program, and to be able educate kids about Project 54 and what it is to be an Electrical Engineer. Thanks, and we are looking forward to seeing you again next year!

Eric Ojala

This week UNH’s Tech Camp visited Project 54 to take a look at the simulator.

The tech camp is a program based out of Kingsbury Hall, where kids from seventh through tenth grade are able to get a sense of STEM professions (These include Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). The camp is designed to give students interested in STEM professions a closer look into what these jobs are all about.

Tech Camp students visited the Project 54 simulator, as well as a model of a New Hampshire State Police cruiser. Students were given a short briefing about Project 54, and were then allowed to ask questions about what the system does.

Above: Oskar Palinko demonstrates the use of the Project 54 simulator to UNH Tech Camp Students

Many students enjoyed testing the simulator, which allows the user to get a first hand look at Project 54. Students learned about how the Project makes operating a police officer’s cruiser safer, using speech controls and an integrated computer system, rather than a multitude of buttons and switches.

Above: Mark Taipan demonstrates Project 54 to UNH Tech Camp students with a state police cruiser model.

Devin Mullen

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Alyssa Shooshan, Senator Gregg’s chief of staff and Dean Hingson Senator Gregg’s new counsel, visited Project54 earlier this week. They toured our labs and the new Project54 garage (the location of our recent open house) and had a chance to see in person the results of Senator Gregg’s continued support for Project54. In the picture below you can see Alyssa and Dean (right) looking on as Michael Farrar demonstrates the Project54 handheld application.

Thanks for visiting Alyssa and Dean, we hope to see you again soon.

You can see more pictures from this visit on Flickr.

Andrew Kun

Last Thursday we held a Project54 Open House celebrating the ten year anniversary of this effort. The event was held at our new garage facility in Morse Hall, on the UNH Durham campus. We’ve just recently moved into this facility, which was renovated for our use with the generous support of UNH CEPS Dean Joe Klewicki.

The turnout was excellent: 26 first responders, as well as around 40 faculty, staff, students, industry partners (our colleagues from 54ward) and friends attended the event. Ross Lenharth (picture below, left), the person in charge of the Project54 technology deployment effort, greeted our guests and Tom Prasol (picture below, right), Project Director in Senator Judd Gregg’s Portsmouth, NH office conveyed Senator Gregg’s congratulations and hopes for continued success.

Several first responder agencies helped out by demonstrating various aspects of the Project54 system as it is deployed in their vehicles. Lieutenant Mark Liebl of the New Hampshire State Police was on hand to demonstrate the Project54 system in a cruiser. Cruisers of the Lee, NH Police and the Merrimack County Sheriff’s office are equipped with mobile network cards that allow officers to access remote databases using a commercial wireless network. Sergeant Tom Dronsfield from Lee and Corporal Brendan Merchant from Merrimack County Sheriff’s were on hand to demonstrate this capability. The Project54 system is also used in firefighting applications as demonstrated by Inspector Brendan O’Sullivan from the Durham Fire Department and Chief Tom Perly from the Madbury Fire Department.

All of us at Project54 want to thank the first responders who helped us make this open house a success. We also want to thank all of our guests for helping us celebrate our anniversary. Finally, we thank Senator Gregg for his continued support of Project54.

You can see more pictures from the event on Flickr.

Andrew Kun

On Thursday, April 30th 2009, the Office of International Students and Scholars‘ Circle Group visited our lab to learn about Project54 and to try the simulator. I am a regular member of this group of students and scholars that meets every Thursday at noon in the MUB Entertainment Center when school is in session. It’s a great way to meet other international students and share our experiences. First we started off with demonstrating the lab car:

Next, Dassie tested the speech user interface of P54.

Then we moved on to the simulator. Here Morgen is driving through one of our city scenarios.

The above image has a cool space-warp speeding effect, courtesy of Hyomin Kim, who was kind enough to take the photos for us. More pictures of the visit can be found here.

It seemed to me that everyone liked the simulator and were happy to experience something new. I surely enjoyed showing them our lab.

Oskar

Last Wednesday the Project54 lab hosted the April meeting of the New Hampshire Usability Professionals Association (the NH section of the Usability Professionals Association). What does the NHUPA do? Here is what Michael Hawley, Senior VP for Experience Design at Mad*Pow, and NHUPA president, has to say on this topic:

The New Hampshire Chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) provides networking and professional development opportunities for usability professionals, information architects, interaction designers, and other user experience professionals and students in the Seacoast and Southern NH regions. The professionals are dedicated to designing technology and software that is easy to use, useful and engaging. Our mission is to foster the growth of the local usability community and to provide an environment for members to exchange information on job opportunities, tips, tools, methodologies, and technologies related to usability.

The meeting started with a lab open house during which Oszkar Palinko, Zeljko Medenica and I discussed aspects of the Project54 effort related to user interface development and deployment in vehicles. After the open house I gave a presentation introducing two of our studies (Oszkar’s PTT glove study and a study exploring the use of navigation aids in cars). Here are a couple of pictures from the event (more on Flickr):

The 20 people who attended this meeting had excellent questions and suggestions for us, and it was a pleasure to talk to so many of them. Thanks to Michael Hawley for bringing this meeting to UNH, thanks to Kyle Soucy of Usable Interface for recommending the Project54 lab as a good venue for a NHUPA meeting, and thanks to UPA members who visited and spent time talking to us.

Andrew Kun

UPDATE: More pictures on Flickr by Kyle Soucy.