CrystalWeb
Crystals you can play with!
Final Report
December 7, 2004
Ed Barnard
Stephanie Silberstein
Frederick Wang
Harris Wang
crystalweb@mit.edu
Introduction
Motivations
• Crystals hard to visualize in 2-D space
• Lack of user-friendly databases
• Promote interest in crystallography
Audience
• College students studying crystals
• People interested in materials science
• Researchers – database capability
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
Objectives
Website
• Web-accessible visualizations of 3-D crystals
• Descriptions and examples of crystal structures
• Crystal database
• Provide interactive software tools
Software
• Allow users to build and explore crystals
• Provide online user manual
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
Site Map
Home
Welcome/
overview
Purpose
Crystal of
the Day!
Learn about Crystals
Crystal
Lattices
Diffraction
Fourier
Transform
Database
Search
Results
Entries
Browse
Software
Manual
Java Info
Download
Glossary
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
Website Technologies
• HTML dynamically generated using PHP
• CSS to determine look and feel
• Browser compatibility
• MySQL for database storage
• Image storage and retrieval
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
AtomicControl
• Standalone application for building crystal models
• Java 1.4
• Swing UI
• Java3D API
• Windows/Mac/Linux
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
Usability Testing
Scenario:
Returning sophomore (took 3.091, but forgot
everything) needed to find answers to a pop quiz on
crystallography.
Tasks
• Find general crystallography information
• Explore rotating crystal structures
• Download AtomicControl Software
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
Improvements
• Rename toolbar links
• More detailed descriptions of crystals
• Enhance visual design and consistency
• Browser compatibility across all platforms
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
CrystalWeb Demonstration
• You’re probably wondering…Does it work?
• Check it out:
• http://ebarnard.mit.edu/~ebarnard/crystalweb
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
Member Roles
•Ed: Database, PHP, software
•Stephanie: Website/graphics design, site content
•Frederick: Graphics design, database
•Harris: Project manager, site content, database
•Prof. Samuel Allen: Faculty Advisor for
AtomicControl Project
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
Project Timeline
Sept.
7
14
21
Oct.
28
5
12
19
Nov.
26
2
9
16
Dec.
23
30
7
…
Brainstorming
Skeleton Site
Develop Site
Usability Testing
Finalize Site
Project Proposal
Progress Report
Final Presentation
Final Report
Future Development
Today!
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
Summary of Work
Website
 Web-accessible visualizations of 3-D crystals
 Descriptions and examples of crystal structures
 Crystal database
 Provide interactive software tools
Software
Allow users to build and explore crystals
Provide online user manual
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
Summary of Work
Website
 Web-accessible visualizations of 3-D crystals
 Descriptions and examples of crystal structures
 Crystal database
 Provide interactive software tools
Software
Allow users to build and explore crystals
Provide online user manual
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu
Project Future
• AtomicControl will be part of Ed’s senior thesis
• Use in classrooms at MIT
• 3.012, 3.014, 3.091
• Addition to Athena and OpenCourseWare site.
Crystals you can play with!
crystalweb@mit.edu