bsalmond /0607 /bms-210-assign 5

Prototype Information/Notes

This project is still in its exploratory phase, I am not clear on many of the mechanisms by which the data from the feeds mentioned in the proposal will impact the graphical output. In the interest of time, and development cost I would think that the best option for initial proof of cocept design would be an web application that runs within a standard browser. As I will explain below this would not be the final /ideal solution for this project. If I decided to realize this project more fully, I would be interested in designing a full standalone application. In order to prepare a funtioning prototype I will need to focus on the following aspects of this project:

Confguration Interface

This will be the primary user interface for the system. Through this system the user wil be able to configure the individual feeds that will be monitored.

Web form/AJAX form

Data Collection/Storage

Data from the feeds will need to be collected and parsed. Ideally when possible the feeds will be XML based, in those cases that are not XML based, the program will be responsible for parsing individual HTML pages. The parsed information will be stored within a backend database.

Perl or PHP MySQL

Data Analysis

The data will need to be analysed once it is captured. I am hoping to perform some simple statisitcal analysis on the captured data, perhaps using basic datamining techniques. I am not sure about the technology that will be used to implement this portion of the program.

Graphical Output

I would prefer to utilize somtething other then flash for visual output.

Processing or OpenGL/Java

Form Factor/Physical Presentation

This portion of the prototype will be presented as design documentation. This will likely include illustrations, specifications and 3d models.