ASAP funding comes from implementing a variety of digital media projects for playing clients. This creates a necessity by design to continually develop new business and manage client interaction. ASAP will also take on pro-bono projects in situations where it affords exploration into a new technology.

On the menu to the left, there are some example projects.

Wearables Research

The wearables project is an ongoing research project using point-to-point communication devices to be operated while embedded in clothing or worn as an accessory. The project explores integrating emerging low-cost communication technologies with human social interaction. ASAP received support for the project from Maine Technology Institute. Seed Grant SG4028, "Wearable Social Networking Device," was successfully concluded this year. In-house research based of the results and challenges of SG4028 is ongoing.

<<Back to Top

The Maine Journal

Public Outlet for Undergraduate Work at the University of Maine

The Maine Journal will primarily serve as a way to educate and inform interested parties in the work being done by undergraduates at the University of Maine. Not only does this provide for sharing of work amongst young academics, but also gives visibility to the quality of work done at the University of Maine, lending additional credibility to itself and its students. The former allows for additional academic discussion outside the classroom. This reinforces the key notion of peer cooperation and critiquing in academia. Sharing of ideas also fosters collaboration for the creation of new research opportunities among undergraduates, and promotes awareness of current opportunities. The latter greatly benefits the University of Maine in attracting new undergraduates. The ability to see actual work done by undergraduates in specific majors as portrayed by those undergraduates is a capability not accessible in most universities.

<<Back to Top

GoMOOS

The Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System maintains a set of buoys that collect a wide variety of data, from temperature, to currents, to salinity. With roughly a gigabyte of data collected per day, the client needs a unique interface for rapidly querying and identifying key data events.

ASAP Media Services was engaged to develop a web interface for visually creating queries and viewing results. It uses a unique method of visualization where multiple, parallel timelines display markers indicating dramatic changes in data (i.e. events). A prototype has been developed for this interface and can be viewed below. This project is currently entering phase 2, expanding upon the concepts learned from the prototype.

<<Back to Top

SimStream

This project teaches middle school students programming through the use of the program Scratch. To do so, ASAP bring students into the environment by looking at past research they completed on rivers earlier in the year. They then take this information, and flow a design process to create a game or animation to show facts about their river. In doing so, they develop not only an understanding of programming, but also an understanding of the environment. The research is focused on understanding the learning and creative process of these students. During the spring of 2011, after completing IRB review and training, ASAP have been testing the SimStream process with students of the Old Town Montessori School. Findings from this work will allow us to refine our process, and produce a more effective method of teaching.

<<Back to Top

Under Your Skin - Maine Discovery Museum

"Under Your Skin" is a health and body exhibit designed for the Bangor Discovery Museum. The museum's mission is to "educate children and families, encourage creativity, nurture a sense of wonder, and to challenge all to learn in new and innovative ways". "Under Your Skin" plans to do exactly that by designing a health and body exhibit that would fit into the renovations of the physical health department of the Discovery Museum. The exhibit's purpose is to inform children about what is under their skin with a simple and fun learning environment. It does so with body tracking technology that would take the movement of the user and map it to a body image so that it could react in real time. The user would be able to move around in the space in order to explore and learn about different parts of the body that are under the surface, creating an exciting, visual learning experience.

<<Back to Top

Marcel Lecram

Marcel is a multimedia art research center that focuses on "artistic, educational and cultural experimentation, exchange between art and science and collaboration between art and industry." ASAP was commissioned by this group to develop the unique navigation for their website, the "Navihedron." We created a 3-dimentional object that can be manipulated by the user to move to different areas of the site.

<<Back to Top

Secchi

The Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program coordinates volunteers all over the state who measure water quality of Maine lakes. Previously volunteers had to go through a recertification process on-site in Auburn to ensure quality measurements. ASAP developed an online recertification tool that will involve a simulation of the test process where an interactive reading can be taken from a virtual lake.

<<Back to Top

JumpBox TV

Jumpbox TV is a startup company in California creating an online television network. ASAP developed a web-based interface for browsing digital video. This system includes a dynamic library of previous shows and episodes as well as live interviews and events. There is also a feature that will allow users to chat online during an interview. Questions posed on the chat can be posed to the celebrity being interviewed realtime.

<<Back to Top

X Power

ASAP was commissioned by the Department of Defense to develop an interactive CD ROM with to support a classroom curriculum for mathematics. The final system has a series of educational games and tools which support various mathematic concepts. The project was implemented using a variety of multimedia tools including 3D modeling & animation, Adobe Director and Flash. The completed system was developed for distribution on CDROM.

<<Back to Top

Office of Planning & Policy Analysis

ASAP developed an online application for use by the University of Maine Office of Planning and Policy Analysis. This system provides access a large database of statistical information on university students in a means that is simple and intuitive. Dynamic charting of data online presents data clearly and quickly.

Maine Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants

The Maine Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants is a statewide organization that monitors invasive aquatic plants and educates local individuals about the types of plants that are being introduced into Maine waterways. The Center solicited ASAP to develop a simulated laboratory environment for others to access. ASAP constructed a program using Adobe Flash that allows users to inspect various plants in a virtual lab. The site also includes narrated slide shows that educate the users about the plants.

To visit the site click here. Once at the page, click "guest" to try out the course.

<<Back to Top

Galaxy of the Stars

The Buchanan Alumni House is an organization on campus that works to facilitate a relationship between the University of Maine community and its alumni. ASAP was approached to develop an interactive kiosk that would recognize famous UMaine alumni. ASAP constructed an interactive kiosk that houses biographical information of alumni, and provides multimedia (video, audio, text) to supplement this material. The kiosk is accessed via a 42-inch plasma screen at the Alumni House.

<<Back to Top

Lobster Institute

The Lobster Institute, founded in 1987, "focuses on sustaining the American lobster resource (Homarus americanus) and a viable lobster fishery." ASAP Media Services created the following site for this organization.

<<Back to Top

Center on Aging

The Center on Aging (COA) is a non-profit organization that advocates for rights of the elderly. This group hired ASAP to develop an online course application for professionals to gain certification in dealing with abuse of senior citizens. This system has a detailed administrative side which allows non-technical staff at COA to change any element of content in the course as well as collect data from students.

<<Back to Top

NAMI Online Classroom

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is a national organization dedicated to improving the lives of those living with serious mental illness and their families. Among the services provided by this organization are courses for professionals who work with the mentally ill such as doctors, nurses, police officers, etc. The Maine chapter of this group contacted ASAP to help move from workshop-based classes to an online experience. This will dramatically reduce the cost and widen the accessibility of these classes, many of which are key to neccessary certifications for professionals.

ASAP developed a specialized online course system for NAMI Maine. This allows instructors to port existing course material to an automated, online environment where students have classes available on demand.

<<Back to Top

iPointer

Intelligent Spatial Technologies, Inc. (iST) develops location-based services and technologies that transform the way people interact with the world around them. This company was founded by former ASAPer Chris Frank. The iPointer platform uses patented geospatial search technology to enable next generation mobile services such as pointing and proximity based mobile search, geotagging & blogging, GPS tracking and reporting, walking tours, city guides, pedestrian navigation, and targeted advertising. iST is currently working with ASAP in prototyping aspects of the design of this new product.

<<Back to Top

Margaret Chase Smith Center

The Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center (MCSPC) is "dedicated to advancing public discussion about important policy issues of our day." ASAP is working with MCSPC on two parallel projects. First, is an interactive kiosk which is the result of a joint collaboration with the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan, ME. This kiosk will be presented on a plasma, touch-screen and will provide access to a database of media regarding the legacy of Senator Smith.

The second project is an online management system which will not only allow dynamic updates to the MCSPC website, but internal management of several operations. The most ambitious of which is a new system for managing the internship application process. This part of the project is currently in the design phase and implementation will continue into the fall.

<<Back to Top

FlowCAM

Bigelow Labs, an ocean sciences research group, is working with the Computer Vision Lab at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst to develop a system to identify, photograph, and classify phytoplankton (microscopic organisms in water). This project is part of a $2 million National Science Foundation grant. With every NSF grant, there is an outreach component to explain the research related to this system.

Bigelow Labs and the Darling Marine Center have contracted ASAP to develop an online system to explain this research. This site, will take advantage of various media including animations, video, and interactive activities, to explain the scientific concepts and challenges related to this work.

<<Back to Top