Team:Wellesley HCI/Notebook/KaraNotebook

The first foray into human-computer interaction! We started with a basic introduction to the concepts of HCI research and the lab's particular goals and projects. Also included were the subteams our labs were divided into - I ended up in the Information Workflow and eLab Notebook groups, but my team members were to arrive next week. Still, since it was just the inofmration-gathering phase at the moment, being able to communicate via email was more than enough.

But before I started with workflow and ELN research, Consuelo sat me down in front of Samsung surface and gave me a thick Surface-programming training manual to work on. It was my first contact with XML and C# - they reminded me a lot of HTML and CSS/JS, though, but that does make sense. It was an interesting experience to dissect the logic in the code I was instructed to write and see familiar patterns in it.

Once that was done (which was a shame), it was time to start researching the ELN. We had a number of preliminary readings to do, which covered the current state of commercial ELNs to new and dramatically different implementations of the technology. It was quite a large volume of information to process, but it's exciting to see that technology in labs is a lot closer to the futuristic equipment shown in the media than I'd previously thought.

04Jun 2012

Went to MS NERD for a workshop on Windows 8

• Introduced to Windows Metro and apps
• Demo for Windows 8 on the Slate tablet
  • How they utilized many different possibilities for touch, like the picture password and gestures from sides and corners having different functions
  • Metro homepage provided a central hub for many different apps - like using FB or WordPress without being explicitly on, able to access just from the People app
  • Apps also updated with live tiles, badges, and toast popups
    • Something similar for the ELNs to streamline access to streams of information (machines, materials management, reminders, timers) and live updating through the cloud
    • Also helps with communication and collaboration between scientists if could use cloud to do both in real time
  • Split-screen view: applications for collaboration? A large window for the shared presentation and a personal dock on the side, for bi-directional file exchange
  • Visual Studio and Blend changes: most importantly, multiplatform support thanks to ability to write in HTML5 and JS
    • Relevant to last year: people asked why they couldn't have the ELN on so-and-so mobile device; may help with interactions with the tabletop surfaces for presentations

05Jun 2012

MIT synthetic bio bootcamp

• Started the day with an intro to synthetic biology: how it merges biology and engineering, what tools and concepts both bring to the table to build cells/machines
  • Concrete examples provided with examples of past iGem projects, including the 2006 MIT team's Eau d'Coli
    • Interesting to see how they used abstraction to design their system, then delved into the physical parts (genes) and interesting to see a logic gate represented with DNA
• Second half was wetlab for appreciation for the difficulties encountered during labwork, and to see where paper notebooks are lacking
  • • Transformed E. coli K12 using E. chromi color plasmids
    • Measured the effect of modulating expression (e.g. promoters and RBSs of varying binding affinity)
      • Use of concepts (e.g. ß-galactosidase catalyzes splitting of ONPG into yellow product) to quantify efficiency of each system

06Jun - 09Jun 2012

• Putting together preliminary presentation for Orit and Consuelo's feedback
• Building on our existing research and new directions to take:
  • Troubleshooting phase of Build step/cycle as a target for software tools: research approaches and thought processes, how to support existing methods
  • Look up paper of the DIYBio DIS'12 workshop
  • Investigate existing software tools for each step of the information workflow, esp. previous iGem entries
  • Focus less on current state of ELN technology and more on avenues of innovation for small academic labs (current market for regulated commercial labs staffed with professionals)
  • Survey professors on campus as part of expert input step in gathering project requirements and specs (UCD)

11Jun 2012

The whole lab got together to have group presentations and brainstorming for each topic from a wide wariety of perspectives. Topics presented ranged from nitty gritty details like the actual technology and its capabilities, to higher-level ideas like how interaction works when you factor in the users. Once presentations were over, we split into two groups with at least one member of each research group present and came up with five concepts. My group ended up branching out all over the place with potential ideas, and it was hard to distinguish some of them as they were different and yet still natural outgrowths of a seed idea.

12Jun 2012

We had Robert from Agilent and Traci, Shawn, and Monique from BU over for an all-day brainstorming session. Before they came, we put up printouts, photos, post-its, and posterboard from the previous day, and other notes all over a reserved classroom to create project-specific stations. At first, we ended up in small groups - I wasn't sure if we were meant to man our specific stations or wander around, but that's what ended up happening (the ELN station ended up a bit of a ghost town). After a while, I wandered over to the art group, which proved to be pretty interesting - I had a chance to finally see the Sifteos for myself and play a game with them, using the cubes to view a maze and guide a gopher through it. Towards the end of the day, we joined together to discuss one subject en masse - we focused on the art project and general workflow and collaboration, leaving the other topics for the following day. Later, I did a little research on the Eugene language, which I found just familiar enough to make some sense and yet the approach and way of thinking felt so different from standard biology that I was left rather lost. But it's probably a question of thinking it over and familiarizing myself with it. I think it'll get better with time.

13Jun 2012

It was pushed back by about a week, but we finally go to go to BU and meet their wetlab team! We started the day with a little symbol review and introductions, followed by iGEM medal requirements and their projects and tools. They told us about modular cloning, or MoClo, which really feels like synthetic biology. It's very machine-like and structured, but instead of having a mass-produced mechanical part, you have DNA instead. It's pretty interesting and seems like a great idea, and even though the timeframes sound long (five hours or so?) compared to days required by standard practices, this looks like a great improvement. But I don't really know enough about the topic or standard cloning in general to understand the drawbacks of this new process (perhaps because it's so new, a good repository hasn't been created and so it isn't ready for widespread use?). Wendy and Kim also presented the art project, along with a mass presentation by Casey, Kathy, and Wendy on all of the other projects and Monday brainstorming. We got a little feedback from them, but I feel like this stuff is a lot to take in all at once. Projection seemed to be a hit with the BU team, though, and I personally do like the idea of it a lot. It avoids the surface contamination problem by using in-lab surfaces, while still being portable - presumably you could hook up projector-camera combinations all over the lab, or wire up the scientists themselves (alright, maybe not). And cheaper and less personal than tablets. Afterwards, I brainstormed a few biosafety questions for our day with Natalie tomorrow, especially with regards to synthetic biology. I remember she touched on some ideas before during the MIT bootcamp, that there weren't many regulations for the synthetic biology community. It's an interesting situation since you might expect many, probably overblown rules, given how easy it is to make the leap from synthetic biology into Hollywood science fiction, and the government's reaction to other research fields like stem cells.

14Jun 2012

We had a short time to interview Natalie Kuldell during our ELN/PLOT (Personal Lab Organization Tool) presentation today. She shared her work style with us and what benefits her current set-up (i.e. paper-wiki hybrid) offer her. Paper, she told us, was invaluable for drawings, and the sharing and editing capabilities of the wiki also proved to be very useful. Her insights highlighted desired features we'd noticed in our own research, like freeform annotation with support for drawings, as well as search capabilities. We also have a CS/Math department talk every week, and this week was a little relevant to our work in HCI. Two professors working on vision, voice recognition, and natural language processing presented on their research and the current status of the field, including Siri's inability to really understand what the user asks of her. (Kidnapping a child? Here are several restaurants you can take them to.) We also had a little brainstorming about art and human practices, building on yesterday's discussions. We had man named Dave here - I think I missed his introduction, because I don't know his last name or where he's from, but he was mostly involved in giving feedback on our art ideas.

15Jun 2012

Rested and reflected on brainstorming: started researching <products> mentioned by the other brainstorming people, e.g. Robert from Agilent - panavi, from Chi '12 Interviewed Christopher Arumainayagam, head of Chemistry dept at Wellesley about his lab workflow and opinions on features Contacted Tamara Hendrickson, professor at Wayne State, who hosted a bioethics workshop at Wellesley with particular emphasis on ethics in academic labs - a possible information source for regulations and training in good practices implemented through the use of PLOTbox Updated and designed journal Re-organized the team Dropbox

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