Seminar Projects
Dong Xuan
Associate Professor
CSE Dept., The Ohio State University
Barcode Scanner
• Motivation: Check if friends
have an item that can be
borrowed before buying it
• Function: User scans item
barcode with camera,
uploads to central DB, and
checks if other users have
the same product
• Implementation:
Architectural Overview
Internet
HTTP Request/
Response
HTTP Request/
Response
– Java with Android SDK (client)
– MySQL and PHP (server)
– Google ZXING (barcode scan)
• Device: T-Mobile G1
PHP Script
MySQL
DB
OCR Text Scanner
• Motivation: Store and use contact
info about businesspeople
instead of carrying around many
business cards
• Functionality: Takes a picture of
card, recognizes text using OCR,
and displays text with hyperlinks
to call/email person, map
location, visit website
• Implementation:
– Java with Android SDK (client)
– PHP scripts (server)
– Tesseract OCR, netpbm (tools)
• Device: T-Mobile G1
Multiplayer Tic-Tac-Toe Game
• Motivation: Mobile
phones have limited
multiplayer game support
• Functionality: Implements
two-player tic-tac-toe via
Bluetooth
• Implementation: Java ME
MIDlets and Bluetooth
• Device: Any mobile phone
that supports Java ME
Tic Tac Toe – 1st
Player
Tic Tac Toe – 2nd Player
11X
O
X
X
00O
Exit
Mark
Exit
Mark
GPS Runner
• Motivation: Joggers,
runners, et al. need to keep
track of their activities,
coordinate group activity
• Functionality: Keeps track of
running statistics, displays
paths ran on Google Maps
• Implementation:
– C# on Windows Mobile 6
(client)
– PHP, MySQL (server)
– Google Maps
• Device: Verizon Wireless
XV6800
Phone Security Utility
• Motivation: Phones can be easily stolen and
confidential data can be exposed
• Functionality: Provides remote locking capability
via SMS/MMS (password required), notifies user
of theft via SMS/MMS, takes thief’s picture,
sounds an alarm
• Implementation: Python on Symbian S60 (via
“pys60”); uses camera, location services, etc.
• Device: Nokia N95 (uses front camera for picture)
Real-Time City Bus Tracker
• Motivation: Students and commuters are often
stuck waiting for Columbus city buses (COTA –
Central Ohio Transit Authority)
• Functionality: “Scrapes” COTA RSS feed to get bus
location (each bus has GPS) and displays it on a
map
• Implementation:
– Java ME (client)
– Sniffing & parsing COTA feed
• Device: any phone that supports Java ME
Flash Card Studying App
• Motivation: Students use “flash cards” to help
them learn concepts and it’s inconvenient to
carry decks of cards around
• Functionality: Allows students to enter
information on electronic “flash card” and
both check and refresh their knowledge
• Implementation: Objective C
• Device: Apple iPhone/iPod touch
Emergency Notification System
• Motivation: People in danger need to
unobtrusively notify authorities, esp. if their
lives are in jeopardy
• Functionality: Those in danger press button on
smartphone to notify police of threat with
GPS location; “virtual keyboard” can be used
with camera sensor
• Implementation: C++ (for Symbian OS)
• Device: Symbian OS-powered phones
Conclusion
• Students in OSU’s smartphone seminar
developed numerous applications with many
possible extensions, e.g.,
– Using smartphone cameras for distributed,
context-sensitive image processing
– Unobtrusively notify police via smartphone when
one is held at gunpoint without gunman noticing
• Thank you! Questions and comments?