The proposed goal of “ego” is only attainable once voice recognition by computers is very close to flawless. This raises the question if it’s worth the bother of working on it before that happens. We believe that it might, based on the premises that everything else needed for it to work is either something that a lot of people already do (a lot) or is otherwise within reach of people whose mindset fits with that of the project.
None of the people who started this project have a background in programming, but they put an effort into it – we tried to learn quickly and stick to coding best practices as best we could.
The choice of platforms for initial development – the Iphone and Facebook - has to do with how popular these are right now and with the accesibility of their SDK and API, respectively. Client applications for different platforms (devices and web) are very welcome.
Right now the code for this project is a pre-alpha “barebones” version, providing a link between a simple Iphone application and a basic Facebook application via PHP/mySQL. It also includes a PHP RSS script feed for blogging systems, so that the “We Feel Fine” bot can eventually pick up some of the entries generated by “Ego”.
Communication between the Iphone and a mySQL database is working: Name, Date/Time, Category (daydream / nightdream), Tags and the actual text with the dream narration are introduced into a mySQL database via PHP.
The variables are passed from the Iphone the PHP script on the server via URL arguments.
Not done
In the case that voice transcription should be done by a server – using the sphinx-4 open-source system, for instance – this has not been addressed. Again, the issue of user account creation has note been adressed.
An Adobe Flex project which creates a .swf file that can be integrated into a Facebook app, a CMS or into a blog. Data is retrieved from a mySQL database via xml.
The alpha source will run on the iPhone SDK simulator, with release versions intended to be free for download in the iTunes store. We do not endorse nor opose jailbreaking, it’s just that we like the idea of an open-source project for free software while abiding to the rules set out by the developer of the platform.
There is a development database with content submitted by the iPhone client
Setting up a sandbox for server-side scripts development^
While we look forward to living in a world where we can trust anyone’s better judgement and sense of responsability, the fact of the matter is that we can’t expose the beta development database to unnecessary risk. As such, we set up an automatic daily backup of the database that can be used in a local setup (Mamp, Wamp, etc) for developing the server-side components of “Ego”.
Status
The proposed goal of “ego” is only attainable once voice recognition by computers is very close to flawless. This raises the question if it’s worth the bother of working on it before that happens. We believe that it might, based on the premises that everything else needed for it to work is either something that a lot of people already do (a lot) or is otherwise within reach of people whose mindset fits with that of the project.
None of the people who started this project have a background in programming, but they put an effort into it – we tried to learn quickly and stick to coding best practices as best we could.
The choice of platforms for initial development – the Iphone and Facebook - has to do with how popular these are right now and with the accesibility of their SDK and API, respectively. Client applications for different platforms (devices and web) are very welcome.
What’s done, what’s not^
Right now the code for this project is a pre-alpha “barebones” version, providing a link between a simple Iphone application and a basic Facebook application via PHP/mySQL. It also includes a PHP RSS script feed for blogging systems, so that the “We Feel Fine” bot can eventually pick up some of the entries generated by “Ego”.
Iphone^
The window structure for an application with a tab for creating journal entries and another for playing binaural brainwave entrainment audio files.
No audio yet
There isn’t a user account system as such, just a text field for inserting a name.
Server-side^
Communication between the Iphone and a mySQL database is working: Name, Date/Time, Category (daydream / nightdream), Tags and the actual text with the dream narration are introduced into a mySQL database via PHP.
The variables are passed from the Iphone the PHP script on the server via URL arguments.
In the case that voice transcription should be done by a server – using the sphinx-4 open-source system, for instance – this has not been addressed. Again, the issue of user account creation has note been adressed.
Front-end^
An Adobe Flex project which creates a .swf file that can be integrated into a Facebook app, a CMS or into a blog. Data is retrieved from a mySQL database via xml.
None of Facebook’s API methods are implemented.
Get Involved – Sourceforge? GoogleCode?
Notes^
iPhone client^
The alpha source will run on the iPhone SDK simulator, with release versions intended to be free for download in the iTunes store. We do not endorse nor opose jailbreaking, it’s just that we like the idea of an open-source project for free software while abiding to the rules set out by the developer of the platform.
Server-side^
There is a development database with content submitted by the iPhone client
Setting up a sandbox for server-side scripts development^
While we look forward to living in a world where we can trust anyone’s better judgement and sense of responsability, the fact of the matter is that we can’t expose the beta development database to unnecessary risk. As such, we set up an automatic daily backup of the database that can be used in a local setup (Mamp, Wamp, etc) for developing the server-side components of “Ego”.