Abstract
For my technical Capstone project, my group and I, known as the Flying Birdies, developed a sensing device and a mobile application to track performance analytics for Badminton players. We recognized that the cost of professional coaching is high, so we built this device for casual players to view their analytics, so they can see their progress over time and know what to improve in order to better their gameplay. The product is a device that you can clip onto the neck of a Badminton racket, which was created using Computer-Aided Design and 3D printing. The circuit inside the 3D printed case is a Printed Circuit Board with three sensors: a magnetometer, an accelerometer, and a gyroscope, which track the acceleration, and the angles of pitch, yaw, and roll, which are angles with respect to the x, y, and z axes in 3D space, respectively. The board also contains a microcontroller, which is used to transmit the measured data to the mobile application, and a battery, which is used to power the board. The mobile application then processes the data into four key metrics: swing speed, swing force, racket-shuttle impact force, and swing acceleration. Using Bluetooth, the user can connect the device to the mobile application, and they can view their data in numerical, graphical, and statement form, so they can understand their current performance and also see their gradual progress.
For my STS Research project, I analyzed the beige furniture trend and the implications of this trend on the brain health of babies. My research question was: “How are social media influencers portraying the positives and negatives of the beige furniture trend, and what are the health impacts of said trend?” I specifically observed how this trend was being portrayed in YouTube videos and Instagram reels, by collecting data about the creators themselves and their opinions. I also researched the history of the trend, what psychologists and anthropologists are saying about how colors impact the brain development of babies, and theories behind why people are more likely to believe social media creators over medical and empirical evidence. By collecting data about how creators portrayed this trend positively and negatively, and how they connected their opinion to brain development, I concluded that YouTube is more focused on portraying the trend positively, but when speaking about colors, the creators say that color is important for babies to develop pattern recognition skills, but having beige decorations is not detrimental to brain health. Instagram portrays the trend positively and negatively, and the short form content is more likely to fearmonger about colors causing sensory issues or neurodevelopmental disorders. However, when comparing these results to medical research, we see that there is no direct correlation between colors and brain development issues, and social media posts are relatively consistent with the research. As social media users, we need to become more aware of misinformation and the harm it can cause, especially if we take advice from the internet about our health without proper research and consulting medical professionals. Social media platforms should be reformed to ensure user safety and security.
