Scope of works: Project and Operations Management, Software development (Visual Basic, Flash CS3, LAMP)

Baby TV is a information service aimed at parents-to-be in hospital antenatal waiting rooms nationwide.  Baby TV aims to help parents-to-be make informed decisions for the health, welfare, safety and happiness of both themselves and their future baby.

My involvement in the Baby TV interactive kiosk project included:-

• Producing an innovative and informative user experience.
• Developing an interactive kiosk application.
• Maintain and support the interactive kiosks on a daily basis.

I developed a custom web browser in Visual Basic which served a locally hosted web site designed using LAMP.  The web browser has an automatic return to homepage feature which returned the web browser to the homepage when the interactive kiosk was idle.  Additional features also include collating page visits and competition entries which are stored locally in a mySQL database and backup text files.

Competition entries, usage statistics and the “email me this page” feature information were stored locally on the media player.  Once a day the information was uploaded to a central database and server, ready for daily reporting and usage monitoring.

Health monitoring information, including a screen shot, connectivity and media player operation statistics, were also uploaded on a daily basis to the central server.  This helped the administrative staff to monitor the network efficiently and responsively.

The new Baby TV interactive kiosks will initially roll out to four hospitals and a shopping centre.

Scope of works: Software development (Scala, Visual Basic, VBScript and After Effects)

So, the World Cup is almost upon us. An event that only occurs every four years making it unique in the world of sports.  The patience, the build-up, the long qualification process always makes it seem so far away, yet here we are on the threshold of the event in South Africa in 2010!

While reviewing screen content on the Surgery Media Systems digital signage network, the decision was make to add a new World Cup 2010 content item.

I liaised with the syndicated news feed supplier and arranged a free service upgrade which included the World Cup 2010 news feed.  I also updated an existing piece of content created in Adobe After Effects, adding an appropriate background image, then modifying the back end digital signage software and scripts to incorporate the new World Cup news feed.

Displayed on a large 42″ LCD screen, this content item makes up an existing content loop of approximately 15 content items.  Three separate latest World Cup 2010 news stories are shown within the same content item with an aesthetically pleasing fade between each story.

World Cup 2010 news

Scope of work: Software development

“Processing, based on Java, is a programming language and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts and visual design communities.”

One of my clients wanted the ability to paint on to a virtual canvas with a stencil being present on the screen at all times. With the development scope supplied, I got to work!

If you click on the video below, you can see what I came up with. This Processing sketch allows anyone to paint onto a virtual canvas with their mouse while the stencil, or logo, remains on the screen at all times.

Another idea was to draw in 3D! Check out the video below for some anaglyph 3D development I have done – glasses at the ready, please!

Scope of works: Software development

Whilst developing a new interactive kiosk product a requirement arose for web browser functionality that included an automatic timeout to a default web site on inactivity feature, filtering web pages and allowing navigation to specific web sites only.

I could not produce this functionality with any of the existing web browser applications, even using some of the multitude of rich and varied web browser add-ons currently available, so I had to develop my own software solution.

Using Visual Basic 6 with Microsoft Internet Controls, I developed a web browser with an automatic timeout feature, web address, mySQL database integration, content filtering and comprehensive administrative logging.

Custom web browser application - click to enlarge

Scope of works: Web development

I am always looking to expand my software development repertoire so I have delved into the wonderful, rich world of Facebook Application Development and Facebook Markup Language.

When learning a new language I always find it helpful to develop something you would find useful or interesting. With this in mind, I wanted to create a Facebook fan page for my online portfolio and have the ability to show on my website the current number of Facebook fans, and give new people the opportunity to become fans.

So, I started by creating my own Facebook fan page, unsurprisingly called www.johncove.co.uk. This is viewable by visiting http://www.facebook.com/pages/wwwjohncovecouk.

The next step was to develop a widget to show the existing fans of my Facebook page and also allow Facebook users to become fans to the page. Using Facebook Markup Language (FBML), I created the following widget:-

I have started to develop my own Facebook application, so check back soon or become a fan of my online portfolio in Facebook and receive an update as soon as the application is released.

Scope of works: Software development

Last year a colleague re-introduced me to Processing and asked me to help him develop a simple paint package, using Nintendo Wii
remote controls as paint brushes. This software package later became the Digi Da Vinci software, which made its premier at the Dover Castle PR stunt in 2009 with MEI Events.

My first task in Processing was to develop a dripping paint routine which was used as a feature in the Digi Da Vinci software. The routine was class based and the drip consistency, length and density of the drip was fully customisable.

You can see a demonstration of the dripping paint routine below (click on the play icon):-

Below you can see a commercial headline news article by Sky News featuring the Digi Da Vinci software:-

Scope of works: Digital signage in transport, software development, web development and on-going maintenance

Cabvision is an interactive digital signage network installed in over 1000 taxi cabs across the inner and outer London areas.  The content, delivered remotely over the DAB and GPRS networks, featured are pre-recorded commercials and television shows, latest sport and news headlines, information services and a music channel where the passenger can select a track to listen to while on their journey.

During my two year permanent contract with Liquid Digital Ltd, I was responsible for developing an online administration website using LAMP, known as the Cabvision DBMS, which served the following purposes, and more:-

• Managing the fleet of 1000 plus taxi cabs, which includes cab driver details, content files playback reporting, software and content update status.
• Live reporting of content playback, duration of journeys, content and digital signage application downloads and upload statistics, DAB and GPRS status (screen shot below).
• Hardware stock control – where the stock was distributed throughout the Cabvision taxi network, including spares and repair information.
• A status screen which gave the health of the network (screen shot below).
• Managing of promotions and seasonal advertising
• Ensuring delivery of content and critial digital signage playback software files.
• Reviewing the latest news and sports XML feeds.
• Automated monthly payment receipts, emailed as PDFs directly to the taxi cab owners.

I was involved in developing state of the art software which delivered content files and automated software update packages over the GPRS and DAB technologies directly to the PC based Windows XP Embedded media player situated inside the taxi cabs.

My on-going responsibilities were monitoring the digital signage network on a daily basis, managing the monthly hard drive swapouts across all 1000 plus taxi cabs and maintaining the web servers which hosted the online administration website and the Cabvision corporate website.

I managed the bi-monthly hard drive swap outs directly with Cabvision at their headquarters in East London.

Cabvision screen