Author: jsteward

The “Remind Me” Tablet

Memory loss is something that has become quiet common with people, as they get older. Unfortunately, this can lead to Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease making it progressively difficult for people to retain information long term. The biggest issues that people with Dementia and Alzheimer’s have difficulty with are communication and cognitive processing. To combat this it’s heavily encouraged that people with memory loss keep themselves active mentally and physically because it helps slow down the process. People with memory loss also have caregivers that help them function day to day whether at home or in assisted living. Caregivers are there to give a push, but they are not there to baby or belittle the person they are with. According to Family Caregiver Alliance, it’s important that caregivers improve their communication skills because it will make their job easier and less stressful (Caregiver’s Guide to Understanding Dementia Behaviors 1). Caregivers are also told to be patient and to simplify daily activities.

Caregiving and staying active are great ways to help people with memory loss, but one thing that hasn’t been properly addressed is literacy among people with memory loss. I should preface that there are solutions to this problem, but it’s addressed in a way for children. Looking at the book market for Dementia and Alzheimer’s, a large number of books recommended are picture books with simple plotlines. This format can be helpful for people with later stages of memory loss, but for people in earlier stages it feels like they are treated as kids. Amongst the sea of picture books there are better solutions in literacy for people with memory loss. A prime example would be Simplified Stories, which are a series of books that condense text in order to make it easier to read. These books also supply the reader with images and a sentence summary for the previous chapter. Each chapter ends with a one-sentence summary reminding the reader of what happened in that chapter. Keeping this in mind, I wanted to create a product that would not only make reading comprehension a lot easier, but also be more accommodating to its individual reader.

The product that I came up with is the Remind Me Tablet, an e-reader/tablet with eye-tracking technology built into it. Meaning that whenever a person is reading, Remind Me will be able to track their progress. A long the way the tablet software would be collecting key information from each chapter, so if the reader takes a break and goes to read the next chapter, they can be offered a quick summary of everything that has happened up until that point. The summary will most likely be structured in a bulleted list to make it a lot easier for the reader to digest the material, only offering the key events/characters in the book. With eye-tracking technology, Remind Me can see if someone is re-reading something or just spending a great deal of time on a word. In that case Remind Me would ask the reader if they would like a definition of that word. Remind Me would then look through its built in dictionary in order to find the definition, and if needed, provide synonyms for that word. Knowing that words are added to the dictionary all of the time, the dictionary will update often to be current. Another useful tool that Remind Me will have is a feature where a reader can look through videos and websites for supplementary information in regards to what they are reading. However, the downside to this is that the device would need to have a Wi-Fi connection of some kind in order to utilize those two features. The overall purpose of this product is to make reading easier for people with memory loss aka Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

It’s important that I should address what eye-tracking technology is and how it works. As stated in the previous paragraph, eye-tracking technology pays attention to what people tend to focus on the most and use that data to better understand that individual. The way that eye tracking works is that it “focuses on the pupil of the participants eye and determines the direction and concentration of their gaze” (Eye Tracking 1). As a result, eye-tracking software produces a heat map that helps to see where someone spends the most time. Heat maps utilize a color scale ranging from blue to red, blue being areas where there isn’t much focus and red being the areas that people focus on for longer periods of time. Eye-tracking technology has mostly been used for websites to show the company/owner where people spend the most time and also tracks what the eye is drawn to. There are many positives to using eye-tracking technology in that it shows when users are reading or scanning through content, tracks the user’s attention at different parts of the website, and can determine when the user is unfamiliar with what they’re looking at (Eye Tracking 1). However, there are some negatives regarding eye-tracking technology that I felt needed to be addressed. Eye tracking technology can’t tell when someone reads a piece of information conscientiously, cannot track peripheral vision, and not all readings are accurate depending on the person wearing glasses/hard lenses, having smaller pupils, and an expressive face (Eye Tracking 1). Knowing that these negatives exist will be able to help improve how the product works.

The ideal implication of this product is for nursing homes, because a lot of people with memory loss problems tend to live in nursing homes. We would start with a small group of people, dealing with memory loss, and measure the engagement/comments about the tablet in order to make any needed changes. The overall goal is to have these tablets available in all nursing homes. If the product is beneficial then the plan would be to expand out of nursing homes and into everyday households so people who have at home caregivers can have the opportunity to use this technology. To make the product even more marketable is to potentially implicate the tablets into education, specifically for students that struggle with understanding material and need a more interactive/in-depth way to digest information.

Works Cited

Affairs, Assistant Secretary for Public. “Eye Tracking.” Usability.gov, Department of Health and Human Services, 2 Dec. 2014, www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/eye-tracking.html.

“Alzheimer’s Caregiving.” National Institute on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers/caregiving.

Author, TED Guest. “3 Ways That Your Memory Stays Sharp Even as You Get Older.” Ideas.ted.com, Ideas.ted.com, 8 Nov. 2018, ideas.ted.com/3-ways-that-your-memory-can-stay-sharp-even-as-you-get-older/amp/.

Brussels, DDB. “Simplified Stories: How Can We Keep People With Dementia Reading As Long As Possible.” YouTube, YouTube, 30 Mar. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MaNBVPNxsw.

“Caregiver’s Guide to Understanding Dementia Behaviors.” Caregiver’s Guide to Understanding Dementia Behaviors | Family Caregiver Alliance, Family Caregiver Alliance, www.caregiver.org/caregivers-guide-understanding-dementia-behaviors.

“Memory and Aging.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/pi/aging/memory-and-aging.pdf.

It’s All Greek to Me

The Greek Alphabet

During the 5th Century BCE in Greece, Greeks adapted the Phoenician writing system, which was known to be the basis of most western languages. Prior to the creation of the Greek Alphabet, the Greeks used the Linear B Script, which was only restricted to palaces at the time, because it was mostly restricted to administrative purposes (Violatti 1). Later on, the Greeks migrated to the Phoenician writing system, but realized that the Phoenician writing system was limited on consonants so the Greeks would adapt consonants to express vowels. In other words, the Greek alphabet was the first alphabetic writing system to have distinct consonants and vowels (Crabben 1). The reason for this change was because a majority of words in the Greek language started with vowels while in the Phoenician writing system it was the opposite.

The Greeks knew that they had to alter the Phoenician writing system in order to accurately write out Greek or it wouldn’t make any sense. It was this decision that would mark Greek as the first legitimate alphabet. According to Ancient History Encyclopedia, the Greek alphabet was created during 8th Century BCE because that was when archeological records started showing it being used. Another thing that the Greeks also did early on was following the Phoenician writing system by writing from right to left. This was done to make it easier to write the Phoenician letters because of the arrangement of the symbols (Mark 1). However, when the Greeks modified the writing system they changed their approach and began writing left to right (Violatti 1). After its initial conception, the Greek alphabet had inspired the creation of other alphabetic systems such as the Gothic alphabet, the Latin alphabet, the Glagolitic alphabet, etc. and has become the foundation for most writing systems in western culture.

The Greek alphabet is still being used today in a variety of ways, but the most popular is for college sororities and fraternities, specifically in North American culture, with the first fraternity (Phi Beta Kappa Society) being formed at the College of William and Mary in 1776. At first many fraternities and sororities had special meanings behind their names that would be disclosed only to members, but as of late many sororities and fraternities have strayed away from having meanings behind the Greek letters they use. Even though the use of the Greek alphabet isn’t as prominent now does not shy away from the fact that it was a revolutionary invention that has shaped the fabric and makeup of the writing systems that we use today.

Work Cited:

  • Crabben, Jan van der. “Alphabet.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 28 Apr. 2011, www.ancient.eu/alphabet/.
    • Crabben is the Founder and CEO of Ancient History Encyclopedia, and has a BA in Journalism and a MA in War Studies. Crabben expresses vast knowledge on the subject of the Greek alphabet which made learning about this topic a lot easier to grasp. I found this article in particular to be very helpful because of how in depth it was. It was a great jumping off point to venture into other subsets mentioned in the article (which will be mentioned).
  • Mark, Joshua J. “Phoenicia.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 19 Mar. 2018, www.ancient.eu/phoenicia/.
    • Joshua J. Mark is a freelance writer who is the co-founder and director of Ancient History Encyclopedia. Much like Crabben’s article, Mark displays a well rounded knowledge of the topic. I personally had no idea about the Phoenician alphabet so learning that it derived from Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics was really interesting. It was also interesting to find out that the Phoenician writing system was written right to left.
  • Violatti, Cristian. “Greek Alphabet.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 5 Feb. 2015, www.ancient.eu/Greek_Alphabet/.
    • Cristian Violatti is a writer for Ancient History Encyclopedia and has a vast knowledge and fondness of ancient history. Much like the previous two, Violatti exuded an impressive and well articulated article about the history of the Greek alphabet. It was interesting seeing the ways that the Greeks modified the Phoenician alphabet in order to benefit the ways that the Greeks wrote i.e. changing consonants to vowels and writing left to right.

Hypertext: An Abridged History

Hypertext

The beginnings of hypertext spawned from the mind of Vannevar Bush, an engineer, in 1945 when he described a theoretical proto-hypertext device called Memex (History of Computers and Computing). Bush wanted to create a device that would make it easier for individuals to compress down books and other important pieces of information. The creation of the Memex system would soon lead to the inevitable invention of what hypertext would later become. In 1963, a philosopher/sociologist by the name of Ted Nelson wanted a way to easily connect content. Nelson was inspired by Vannevar Bush’s concept of a hypertext device that he wanted to implement a hypertext system himself (Hypertext: Wiki). That hypertext system would be called Project Xanadu, which was created in the 1960s, but the use of hypertext wouldn’t be available for commercial use until 1967 when Nelson teamed up with Andries Van Dam to create the Hypertext Editing System (HES). The significance of HES was the fact that it was the first hypertext system that could be available to use on commercial equipment.

Fast-forward to 1978, a computer engineer by the name of Tim Berners-Lee concocted a hypertext database system called; ENQUIRE which would eventually pave the way towards the creation of the World Wide Web (WWW). At around the same time, Apple Computers developed their own hypermedia software called HyperCard both of these served similar purposes, but they each had their own advantages (Hypertext: Wiki) . The biggest differences between the two were that ENQUIRE was able to utilize hypertext in their system while HyperCard was able to render images. According to the History of Computers and Computing website, Berners-Lee was responsible for the inevitable creation of the WWW when he created ENQUIRE, but Tim Berners-Lee later teamed up with a scientist at a company called CERN to create the bonafide concept of the WWW, in which hypertext would still be used.

Since the creation of the WWW or the Internet, hypertext is still being utilized as an easier way to connect information from multiple websites. The use of hypertext has made finding information a whole lot easier by linking websites/webpages together just by utilizing clickable text (Who Invented the Internet?). It may seem as a rather normalized thing because of how often it is used through out the Internet, but it’s important to remember that this concept took decades to perfect to make our lives easier. It’s crazy to think that the initial concept of hypertext was thought up in the 1700s but the fact that it is still being implemented today is beyond anything anyone could have imagined.

Works Cited:

  • History of Computers and Computing, Internet, Birth, The World Wide Web of Tim Berners-Lee, history-computer.com/Internet/Maturing/Lee.html.
    • This article was helpful in that it pointed me in the right direction as to what potential sources I should look at when researching this topic.
  • “Hypertext.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext.
    • Even though the article on Tim Berners-Lee was helpful, I knew that I needed more of a jumping off point with my research in terms of the overarching scheme of hypertext as a whole. I know Wikipedia isn’t a database to solely base information off of, but I did use it as a reference to look up the other important inventions leading up to the creation of the modern day hypertext.
  • “Who Invented the Internet? And Why? : Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, 10 Apr. 2014, archive.org/details/youtube-21eFwbb48sE.
    • Much like the first source, I had knowledge of the WWW but I knew that I needed to learn more about it. I was originally going to look through Tim Berners-Lee’s book, The World Wide Web, but I wasn’t able to find a full-fledged version of the book available to me. Maybe I didn’t look hard enough, but I figured that this video would help fill in any missing information.

Nurtured By Technology – McLuhan Quote Analysis

“The family circle has widened. The worldpool of information fathered by electric media – movies, Telstar, flight – far surpasses any possible influence mom and dad can now bring to bear. Character no longer is shaped by only two earnest, fumbling experts. Now all the world’s a sage” (McLuhan 14).

In this quote, McLuhan is commenting on the fact that media has become more of a teacher to kids than their own parents. When young kids are exposed to the Internet they are given access to an endless supply of information at their fingertips. This can obviously go both ways, especially when it comes to consuming information on YouTube. There will come a time when the Internet becomes a child’s teacher, and since a kid’s brain is continuously developing it is sucking up information like a sponge. Media in general shapes who people become, because they are exposed to it so much. Examples of this could be watching youtubers, scrolling through social media, and watching television or movies. Not only do all of those shape the interests of individuals as well as their behavior, but it can also give them problematic or realistic depictions of certain situations. I’m not saying that everything a child consumes could be harmful to them, but at the end of the day the individual has to make an educated decision as to what information they want to consume.

The Circuit is the Powerhouse of the Mind

McLuhan dubs the “Media Age” as an electrical circuit, because much like electrical circuits, we are programed in a very similar fashion. When I think of electrical circuits, I tend to think about a neuron. The reason being that it receives information which then gets processed and finally transmitted to another neuron. The way a circuit works is that they need to have a direct pathway of energy to charge something up, the most common example being a flashlight. The current goes through the circuits to the light bulb to light it up. The nervous system acts very similar to this, in that the neurons transmit information to the brain, and then the brain sends back information to the circuits. So how does this relate to the “Media Age”? Well much like how humans process information through neurotransmissions, we receive information from the media we consume everyday. The difference is that we accumulate so much information that our brains can only grasp a portion of information. On page 63, McLuhan comments that people consume information rapidly that as soon as information reaches us, it is then replaced with even newer information. This means that our brains are constantly being bombarded with information that we have to choose what to hold on to.

Meeting With Career Services

Last Friday I sat down with someone at Career Services to talk about the potential avenues that I could explore after graduation. We quickly realized that publishing wasn’t a huge component of my future plans, but we still delved into possible digital publishing jobs. The jobs that really stood out to me were jobs in social media. I spend probably almost all of my time on the Internet or on my phone, and I have used a lot of the popular social media websites (i.e. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook). I also have a good grasp on pop culture so I could see myself working for a website that covers pop culture like Bustle or Pop Sugar.

As I said before, publishing doesn’t have a big impact on my plans after graduation, mostly because I have grown an interest in theatre production and I had a great experience working for a theatre company over the summer. We did look at a job position that was brought to my attention by another professor called a dramaturge, which is a literary advisor or editor in theatre or movies. Now thinking about it, it does have relations to publishing, but not for a publishing company specifically. It sounded really interesting and something that I would like to learn more about. Hopefully through this class I can learn a few things that I can apply to future job avenues. Before I left I was given two Career Pathway sheets for English and Theatre, which have other job opportunities that I can look into.