Author: alincke

The most significant risks to the project still revolve around the mechanical and optical parts of the goggles. Specifically, the placement and angles of the display, mirror, and lens in the  optical system are very specific, so it may require a decent amount of time to fine-tune the distances and angles of optical system components. It may also take several attempts at the goggles to create a design such that each component (mirrors, lenses, etc) can be installed and also held mechanically stably.

The system’s block diagram has been refined slightly because we’ve experimented with different methods of connecting the goggles and the iPhone and determined the best method. Essentially, we want the user experience and simplicity of Bluetooth but the speeds of Wi-Fi. We’ve refined the block diagram by further specifying that the Raspberry Pi will advertise its hosted Wi-Fi network over Bluetooth. In this way, users will pair with the goggles as any Bluetooth device, and they’ll receive a prompt on their iPhone confirming that they’d like to join the goggles Wi-Fi. This system design specification change won’t cost because it is a simple clarification.

We don’t have any changes to our schedule.

Part A was written by Aidan:

The product solution we are designing will meet a specified need with consideration of global factors for various reasons. First of all, the product is designed for people of any age, including the elderly, by prioritizing simplicity. The goggles are simple to pair and use over Bluetooth, and translations require only a single button to be pressed. Secondly, they provide translations which are helpful to tourists and areas of the world where multiple languages are commonly used. We could improve our consideration of global factors by providing translations to output languages other than English. If time allows, we’ll display text other than English on the display so that the goggles are capable of translation from any language to any language.

Part B was written by Patrick:

The clear cultural need that the Dawggles target is language. The Dawggles allow users to both respect and self-learn the native language of a foreign country. This is both beneficial to the user, who is gaining significant knowledge of the foreign language, and also those in the country that the user is traveling. The Dawggles show that the user is making an effort to learn the native language rather than relying on someone to translate for them. This shortens the language barrier and improves connection between the users of the Dawggles and native people.

Part C was written by David:

Dawggles considers environment impacts by prioritizing a lightweight, repairable, and long-lasting design. Using modular, off-the-shelf components means individual parts (like the battery, camera, or display) can be replaced or upgraded without discarding the entire device, which helps reduce electronic waste. Furthermore, our open-source apporach encourages reuse and improvement rather than frequent full rebuilds. Lastly, our 3D-printed goggles can be improved upon while minimizing material use.

The most significant risks that our group is facing are related to latency, overall physical housing, and text size. We are planning on actually switching from our own CNN for text recognition to an open source model, in order to speed up the computation. Furthermore, we have decided to use our own IOS app so that we can run the CNN and language translation models on our phone rather than the RPi.

The physical housing is somewhat of a challenge, as the focal length of our biconvex lens is 45mm. We may consider adding another mirror if having the display above the goggles becomes too bulky.

In terms of the text size, we now have area allocated for both a GPS HUD and translation at once, but a 12px text size may not be large enough for comfortability. In this case we may switch to having a button that can toggle between GPS and translation so that we only have 1 feature at once on the display.

There is no update to the current schedule.

A was written by Aidan:

The product solution will meet a specific need with respect to considerations of public health, safety or welfare because it enables people who would previously face a language barrier to read written text and signs in other languages. For example, a tourist visiting another country could wear Dawggles and see translations of important safety signs, navigation directions, and other information. These translations greatly improve safety and welfare.

B was written by Patrick:

I feel like our project had a clear positive social impact on the user. The Dawggles are targeted towards those who are trying to travel to foreign countries and need assistance with both navigation and translation in that country. This meets a clear need of eliminating—or at least decreasing—the language barrier and social anxiety that people may experience in this situation.

This project also encourages people to learn the language they are translating. Because the translation appears just moments after glancing at the foreign text, one can actually connect the two terms. If someone had to look up the term later, the foreign word would be less associated. This again helps people learn language in a more interactive and enjoyable way.

UX_DEMO

C was written by David:

The focus of Dawggles is on affordability and openness. This is through the use of open-source hardware and software. Hence, both the cost of production and the barrier of entry for independent developers to work on the goggles is lowered. This can include upgrading a part or writing new software for the developers needs. A modular design also supports easier distribution and maintenance since parts can be sourced from multiple vendors, swapped if supply changes, and replaced individually rather than requiring a full device upgrade.

The most significant risks that could jeopardize the project’s success are related to the lens and mirror not working correctly. For example, the screen might appear to have double images if our 1 mm beam splitter is too thick, or it could appear out of focus if the screen isn’t placed exactly at the lens’s focal point. In addition, the screen could be warped by the beam splitter unless the angle is correct. Finally, the beam splitter is 50% transparent and 50% reflective, but the screen’s display might be too dim or too bright compared to the outside world. We’re managing these risks by allowing extra time and money in our budget for changes that might need to be made to the lens and mirror system.

This week, we also made changes to the existing design in terms of its screen. Instead of using a large screen that spans the width of the goggles at the top, we’re using a simpler approach that shows the screen in a single eye. We made this decision so that we can use a simpler, more common approach and use more widely-used parts such as rectangular displays, lenses from Google Cardboard, and square beam splitters.

There aren’t any updates to the schedule because everything’s on time so far.